Princely Garbs
by Verlerious
Summary: RikuxSora A trainee under Leon, Sora doesn't remember any of his past or that he's a prince. When strange things start to happen around him, he goes out on a search to learn about his past and what happened 13 years ago.
1. Princely Garbs 01

Pairings: Riku/Sora, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Hehe, originally I was gonna put Mickey, Goofy, and Donald in this but I realize that I'd stuck typing for them…but I may add them in later, we'll just have to wait and see how this fic goes.

Princely Garbs 1

"The palace is under attack!"

"Get the prince as far away as possible!"

"What about the king and queen?"

"It's too late for them! Hurry and get the prince to safety now!"

"Yes sir!" The guard looked down at the crying three-year-old Sora, then bent picking him up quickly and holding him in his arms. "Don't worry, young master, we'll get you out safely." Sora continued to cry, not knowing what was going on or where his parents were. The guard didn't bother to soothe him, too busy trying to get the two of them out of the palace and to safety. He hated the idea of having to abandon his hometown, but with the death of the king and queen, Sora's safety was his new top priority. He draped a blanket over Sora's head, blocking the other's view of anything going on before he took off running. He might be safe if he could get to one of the neighboring kingdoms. King Sephiroth was strict about helping others making King Ansem to be the most obvious choice to go to. Doesn't he also have a son? "I'll get you to safety, young master. You can count on me. I'll make sure you live."

Sora just sniffled holding onto the guard's shoulder as they made their escape. Luckily, the blanket was blocking all views of the battle and destruction destroying the palace, as well as the fear the guard knew had to be in his own eyes. He'd have never thought something like this could happen during his lifetime, yet here it was happening before his eyes. He wasn't bothering to see the enemies they were fighting, just trying to find the quickest way out of the palace. The best way to go would be by horse.

With Sora in arms, the guard made his way carefully through the chaos downstairs heading for the stable. It was surprisingly quiet here, a good sign that the enemy hadn't made it this far yet. He found a brown horse in one of the stalls and quickly moved to it. Placing Sora on the horse first, he smiled when the other turned around looking at him with confusion and fear in his eyes. He was no doubt wondering what was going on as well as the whereabouts of his parents. "No worries, young master…everything will be ok. We're going to make it."

The guard smiled resting his hand on top of the young prince's head and was just about to climb up onto the horse himself when he felt a sudden pain and looked down to see the arrow sticking out of his chest. He could feel his vision getting blurry and he looked up at the young Sora who was staring back down at him, eyes wide with horror and filled with tears. Without a second thought he hit the horse's butt sending it running off. As the horse ran free of the gate, Sora holding on tight and calling out to him, the guard felt his body grow heavy, not even noticing when he'd collapsed to the ground falling into the small puddle of blood forming beneath him. A finger twitched slightly as his final breath was sucked from him, his lifeless eyes looking off in the in the direction the horse had escaped to. His last wish was for the well being of the young prince.

* * *

"Sir, we should really be getting back." 

"Nonsense," King Ansem said, as he looked over at Leon with a smile, watching as the other slide his white horse closer. It was a beautiful day today, the perfect day for a horse ride out among the trees. He suspected that he wouldn't get to do this very often, enjoy these sunny breezy days and the lack of stress from work. It was obviously worrying Leon for him to be out here, as the other had constantly expressed with his suggestions of returning to the palace. Yet, here he had several guards around to assure his safety. Was that not enough to make Leon happy? "We hardly have time to come out and enjoy ourselves without the hassle of work and pressure. I promised my grandson that I would ride with him today, and I plan to fulfilled that promise to the end." At that he looked down at the little boy sitting in front of him on the black horse he rode, platinum hair brushed down in the likeness of his mother's. Well it was safe to say he got his looks from his mother considering he didn't have the blonde hair that Ansem had. "Isn't that right, Riku?"

Riku tilted his head back looking up at his grandfather with his gently green eyes before he nodded his head in agreement. Since the death of his mother and father, the child stayed quiet not saying much, if anything at all. He didn't play with the other children in the palace, not even with his little cousin Kairi who was staying within the palace with her mother. Ansem had hoped that coming out here on this nice day for a horse ride would make the boy open up, even if it was just a little bit. But so far his hopes hadn't been attained.

"Sir! There's something over here!"

"What is it?" Ansem turned his horse around carefully and headed over to where a soldier was standing by a gathering of long grass. The soldier didn't respond right away, disappearing into the long grass before he came back holding something in his arms carefully. Whatever he was holding, it was fragile.  
"I think it's a child," the soldier said as he brought his bundle over to the king, which had been covered by a very elaborate blanket. "He seems pretty hurt." Ansem frowned slightly then held his arms out.

"Let me see him." The bundle was placed in his arms with care making the king wonder at the lightness of the thing. Ansem glanced over at Leon, seeing the disapproving look on the other's face before he sighed and continued on with what he was doing. As he pulled the blanket back, he found himself staring down at chubby cheeks covered in dirt and closed eyes. The boy looked like he'd been out for a while, which surprised the king considering how young he seemed to be, only one year younger than his little grandson. There was no telling how long he'd been here, but the fact he was covered in dirt meant it'd probably been a while…several days at most.

His chest raised and lowered in exhaustion, the only sign that he was even alive at the moment. It was a wonder he'd even been able to survive this long considering the possibilities of wolves and other wild animals looking for food, not to mention the boy's lack of food. Could someone have abandoned the boy for dead? No…the crown shaped necklace around his neck was proof enough that he hadn't been just abandoned. It was worth a lot and made Ansem wonder where the boy had gotten it. Had it somehow been stolen from another nation? There was possibility that he'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was only lucky now to be alive though in great need of food, water, and care. "We'll take him with us to the palace. Guards, check around, make sure there are no others."

"Are you sure it's wise to take him with us?" Leon said with a frown, though his eyes focused on the little boy. The child didn't even stir, lost in the world that must be sleep from his exhaustion.

"This child could pose no more danger than a fly to a frog," Ansem said, smiling in amusement as he noticed that little Riku was watching the boy. He placed a hand on top of Riku's head ruffling his hair slightly before he passed the sleeping child to Leon, laughing slightly when the other grunted and draped the child over his horse. Despite his earlier disagreement, he was being very gentle with the boy, almost like he was afraid he'd hurt him by accident.

"We'll take him home and get him cleaned up as good as new. Besides, Riku could use a playmate." Leon could find no argument and snorted nodding his head before he took the reigns and started off for the palace. He was the king's first in command and a very close friend, having been best friends with Riku's father. So it was safe to assume that he took very good care of Riku's safety as well as Kairi's. It would only be a matter of time before he grew attached to this new child, whatever his name might be. "Hm…let's head back to the palace now."

* * *

"So how's the kid?" Leon said, his back leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom now reserved for their new guest. Aeris looked up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed and smiled standing and moving to the side letting Leon see the bright-eyed boy staring up at him. This didn't look like the same peacefully sleeping boy he'd brought in not even a full day ago. His huge expressive blue eyes stared up at Leon, though there was a bit of fear behind them. On the dresser beside the bed, there was a bowl sitting there, empty now of the contents that had once been there. Leon guessed that meant the kid was full. 

_At least he's eating something._

"He doesn't seem to remember anything that's happened," Aeris explained as she knelt down beside the bed and started to comb at the boy's hair, smiling as it just kept bouncing back up into the air. It was definitely some defiant hair, something Aeris seemed to be getting a kick out of. "But I was able to find out that his name is Sora."

"Hmm…." Leon nodded his head a bit as he folded his arms over his chest. "That name sounds familiar…." He pushed himself up from the wall and walked over to the child, standing towering over him, not noticing that Sora's eyes got bigger the closer he got to him. "And this necklace he's wearing…it's ringing a lot of bells but I can't place it."

"Maybe you should keep him under your wing," Aeris said smiling as she picked up the three-year-old and held him up to Leon, tilting her head to the side. "You're just the type that could make him tough and strong, like Riku."

"I'm not trying to be a guardian," Leon said but felt himself loosing the battle as Sora continued to stare at him, tilting his head in the opposite direction of Aeris. Despite the fact that he wasn't a fan of kids, Leon couldn't bring himself to say know when he looked into that face. Either he was growing soft, or this kid had some hidden persuasive talents. That could be bad for the future. With a sigh, Leon reached out taking Sora from Aeris and holding him up bringing him eye to eye. "Fine, I'll keep a watch over him and teach him what I know." Though right now, he was tempted to pass the little brat off to Cloud, King Ansem's second in command. Just the two of them together made an unstoppable army, though Leon considered himself the better of them. "From now on, you're going to call me General Leon, got it?"

"Ley…on…" Sora said before he wiggled his nose and sneezed, his spiky hair bouncing slightly. Leon sighed sitting the three-year-old on the ground. It was worth a shot anyway. Leon glanced back towards the door, hearing the bouncing of a ball and saw Riku standing there though the ball had been forgotten now. The other was staring towards them, or more at Sora.

"Well, look who's come to visit our new guest." Aeris placed her hands on her knees as she smiled at the boy. "Don't be shy, young prince, he won't bite." Riku came into the room more, his eyes still watchful of the young boy standing in front of Leon. Sora was watching him in return and finally took a few steps before he found himself standing in front of Riku. At first the other just continued to stare at him…before he grabbed Sora's hand and pulled tugging him from the room. Leon had a frown on his face as he peered out the door but received a little shocker himself as Riku picked up the ball and pushed it into Sora's hands.

"Play?" was all Riku asked causing Sora to shine his first smile since being brought here as he nodded his head happily. There was no telling how it was that Riku managed to make Sora happy just that easily and quickly nor how Sora's presence already seemed to be working its magic on Riku. It could all just have to do with the fact that they were both children and so felt more comfortable with each other. But then again Riku did spend his time around Kairi a lot, yet she didn't seem to cause any major changes in him. So the only other solution was that they were both boys. What else could there be? He was just glad that the two of them seemed like they'd get along just fine together. And with Kairi there too, the three of them would make each other strong…hopefully without getting into trouble all the time.

_I really need to stop thinking so much….

* * *

_

_Ok, all I have to do is get back to the tree and I'll be safe!_

Sora grinned, his spiky hair jittering softly on top of his head as he sneak from out of his hiding place. He'd been hiding behind the bushes, making sure none of the other kids had seen him. Sure, he was sixteen but he still enjoyed a good old fashion game of hide-and-seek. They were currently playing the game in the garden, considering it the best place since it had the most hiding space. The garden was actually the center of the palace. It could be entered from any side and looked down on from any hall. But he shouldn't be thinking about this right now. No, his thoughts should be right on that tree which happened to be clear of the 'enemy' lurking around in search of him. He was the last one left, the rest of the players already at the tree.

Tidus and Selphie had been the first two to make it, jumping up and down happily declaring themselves the Victors. Kairi had giggled as she made her way to the tree, having made it easily, not even really having to run. This all meant one thing to Sora. Riku, the 'it' person, was searching out someone particular. Normally, Riku could have easily gotten any of the other three friends. But it looks like this time he was after Sora.

_Can I make it?_

Sora stood there for a moment before squatting down and slowly starting to sneak his way towards the tree. He'd make it; he had to make it. Because…there was no way he was going to be it! He hated being it! Everyone always hid so well and by the time he looked back at the tree, everyone was there. How did they do that! Kairi glanced over at him, seemingly noticing that he was on his way and she glanced around for a second before quickly gesturing for him to run. That was a good enough signal as any. Standing up quickly, Sora started a mad dash for the tree. He was going to make it; he had to make it! If he didn't make it he'd be it! Then he'd wind up counting forever until the game finally and blissfully ended!

Sora saw a panicking look spreading around his friends' faces before the word 'hurry' started to come from all of their mouths. That could only mean one thing…Riku was onto him.

"Hurry, Sora!" Kairi called out, her hands cupped over her mouth to make her words reach him. "He's right behind you!"

_Behind me! How!_

Sora didn't even fix a glance behind him, almost sensing the other behind him as he started to run, moving his legs as fast as he could. That tree looked so close but so far away. Was he even going to make it before Riku caught him?

_I can do this! I can make it!_

He ran faster, getting closer to the tree, his hand reaching out as he was just about to touch it…before he collapse falling to the ground. He felt like his head was spinning, a weight pinning him down from behind.

"Looks like I caught you," Riku said laughing softly from his place onto of Sora. He sat up, using Sora's butt as a seat as he folded his arms looking down at Sora with a smirk. The smug bastard was gloating!

"Riku," Sora said before struggling and managing to knock the other off of him. He slowly pushed up to his feet, brushing himself off before he looked at Riku, a pout lifting to his lips. "That wasn't fair."

"Seems fair to me," Riku said in return, that smirk still on his lips. "The rules say I just have to catch you. And I did so that means you're it."

"Geez," Sora sighed, shaking his head quickly as the leaves in his hair finally started to fall out. He didn't have to be so rough! "I _hate_ being it…." The pout still didn't leave Sora's lips. He really hated to be it! Why did Riku have to target him out again! He never seemed to go after any of the others!

"Young master!" The group of friends looked over at the voice seeing a young woman coming out of one of the side doors. She stopped once she was in front of the Riku, panting softly like she'd run the whole way. What was going on now? "Young master," she said again as she bowed her head down to him. "The king wishes to speak with you."

"Again?" Riku said giving an exaggerated sigh before he turned around looking at his friends. "Seems like I'm wanted again," he said as he reached up brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "You guys just keep playing. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned following the young lady back into the palace. Sora frowned softly, wondering what was up. Riku was always getting dragged off for one thing or another. It really bugged him at times, especially since sometimes Riku wouldn't even tell them what had happened. He glanced at the group of friends.

"You guys keep playing, I'll be right back."

"Hey now," Selphie said, her hands resting on her hips as she looked at him. "How are we supposed to play the game without you? You're it!"

"She's right," Kairi said though she giggled softly behind her hand. "We all know how much you hate to be it, but it's really your turn now."

"Yeah, I know I know," Sora said though he rolled his eyes. "But I really do need to check on something and I swear I'll be it as soon as I get back!" Before they could give any complaints, Sora ran off heading for the door he knew Riku had disappeared into. He knew he shouldn't do what it was he was about to do. But he really wanted to know what was going on. There had to be a reason that Riku was being called away so often. But what was it?

As he got closer to the King's room, he slowed down knowing that the guards were probably keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, such as nosy people like him. And what was it that he did around the palace? He was a trainee under Leon's orders. Leon was considered his superior officer and the last person he wanted to see. For some reason, Leon was a workaholic. So if he found Sora just sitting around doing nothing, he was quick to find him something to do. A lot of times he'd wind up sparring, but sometimes he'd get stuck with cleaning and laundry…. Well laundry could be fun sometimes, since he heard a lot of gossip from the females there. For instance, he didn't know that Leon didn't wear underwear. At least that's what he heard. Apparently no one's ever actually washed any of Leon's underwear before…which probably meant he didn't have any.

But sometimes, if it wasn't Leon that found him, it was Cloud. But unlike Leon, Cloud wouldn't make him go do work. Instead he'd just give him this…look before he kept moving. It was strange. It was like he knew something…and for some reason Sora couldn't help feeling…familiar. Had he met him before or something? It wasn't like Sora could remember any of his past from before the kingdom. The only thing he knew was that he'd been found outside the palace and brought him. He was lucky to be alive and especially lucky to have so many good friends.

Several of the servants had told him how happy Riku had become since he'd appeared. Apparently Riku used to be very closed off to people…but somehow Sora had changed that. Course that made him feel good but…why was it that he was the cause to Riku's opening up? Even his flesh and blood didn't seem to help…but someone who was just brought off from the streets somehow managed it?

_But why do I keep getting this feeling that Cloud knows something?_

"What are you doing here?" a voice broke him from his thoughts and he looked up seeing Riku staring down at him in confusion. Right…so much for the plan of eavesdropping.

"I just came to wait up on you," Sora said giving him a grin. Well it was still close to the truth. He just wanted to know what was going on. "So what did he want to talk to you about?"

"Nothing," Riku said quietly though he turned his head looking away from him. It made Sora frown. What was that about? Well it wasn't like it was any of Sora's business but still…

"Oh…." Sora looked down. Riku didn't look happy. What could the king have said to him? "Ah…well…I told the other's I'd be back to play the game." Sora looked up at Riku again, smiling in hopes of getting the other to cheer up. "How about we go back and play?"

"Maybe later," Riku mumbled. "I think…I'll go to bed." He turned starting away down the hallway leaving a confused Sora standing there staring at his back. What just happened? Riku just turned down a game of hide and seek, one of his favorite games to play…when Sora was it.

"Riku!" Sora said quickly, the other stopping in the middle of the hallway and looking over his shoulder at him. Sora bit at his lips, not expecting to get the other's attention. What was he going to say to him anyway? "Um…I'm…I'm here if you need to talk about it."

Riku seemed to hesitate for a moment before the smallest of a smile grazed his lips. "Fine…tonight then…come to my room." He turned walking off again leaving his young friend staring after him. This was getting weirder and weirder. What was going on? Sora wiggled his nose slightly. Well…Riku said he'd tell him tonight. So he'd just wait for tonight. Now…to ditch the game or to go back and be…it…that was the question.

_God, I hate being it!_

TBC……

Gah! I just kept changing this over and over! For some reason I can't seem to settle on just one thing! But hopefully it's official and I've settled on this. The first chapters are always the hardest to do! But yes, I think I got it the way I want it now even though it changed drastically from how it was gonna be. But that way sucked and I like this one better :snickers: Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this!


	2. Princely Garbs 02

Pairings: Riku/Sora, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Hehe, I was actually surprised when I saw how many people liked this story. And it makes me feel honored. I hope I won't end up messing it up for you all and I'll try my best to keep it up!

Princely Garbs 2

_I wonder what Riku's going to tell me?_

Or at least that had been Sora's thought throughout the rest of the day. He hadn't even bothered too much with the whole 'being it' thing because of it. And because of that, everyone got bored of the game quickly, mostly because his ranting about being it was what drove the others to play it in the first place. But now, his mind was completely devoted to Riku. What would the king have needed to say to him? Maybe it was about his succession to being king. Everyone knew that once Riku turned 18, he was going to be the new king. And honestly, that was closer than the platinum haired boy wanted.

Well…it was kind of obvious why Riku wouldn't want to be king. It'd be all work, no play, and a dull life devoted to listening to people whine and having to do paperwork. Just call that paper cut galore! The thing that mostly upset Sora was that he wouldn't be able to spend as much time with the other boy. That was really going to be a problem once he officially became a soldier. And, leave it to Leon, he'd be becoming a soldier faster than ever wanted.

_Then I'd get stuck with boring guard duty and training._

Shaking his head quickly of the creepy thoughts of the future, he told himself to focus on the now. Right now he was in the hallway, the sky being seen through the glass giving away that it was nighttime, which meant he needed to meet Riku in his room. Finally, he'd get to know what was up with the other!

Suddenly, he bumped into someone and fell backwards in surprise, just barely catching his balance again as looked up. " Ah! Sorry!"

"Watch where you're going you wuss." Sora frowned, staring up at the tall boy with his blond hair and an interesting scar across his face…similar almost to the one Leon had. Strangely enough, when asked about it neither male would make a comment, normally saying that it was "none of his damn business," before walking off. So how was it that now Sora had to deal with this jerk as well?

"It's not like you own the hallway," Sora muttered under his breath.

"You trying to pick a fight with me, shrimp?" Seifer held a hand on his sword, glaring down at the little boy standing defiantly in front of him.

"Bring it on!" Sora yelled out even though the only weapon he had was a wooden sword. Sadly, you couldn't get a real sword until you officially became a soldier. Still, he wasn't about to let this guy just walk all over him just because he was smaller.

"Heh…." Seifer seemed to stare at him a bit longer before he removed his hand from the sword and walked past, pushing Sora roughly out of the way causing him to once again have to catch his balance. "You're just a waste of my time," Seifer said as he moved on down the hallway.

"What did you say!" Sora yelled after him, his hand held in a fist as he growled. Man, that guy really made him mad! He was always walking around like he was better than everyone else was, even though he'd only just recently become a soldier. So he was considered one of the best soldiers in the palace. Who cares! Sora could just as easily become one as well if he wanted to!

"What's the problem?" a voice said from behind him and Sora turned around quickly catching sight of Riku. "Is that prick bothering you again?"

"Yeah," Sora said sighing, his hair kind of drooping with his release of tension. "I don't know why he's always picking on me. It's not like I did anything to him!"

"Don't let him get to you," Riku said as he walked up and rested a hand on Sora's shoulder, giving him a confident smile. Sora smiled by, trying to ignore the weird tingling feeling he got from Riku's touch. He'd been getting that weird feeling a lot lately, mostly whenever he was around Riku. But, rather than letting his mind dwell on it, he'd quickly think about something else. "He's just being a jerk."

"Yeah you're right…." Sora grinned as he folded his arms over his chest, staring up at Riku. "Course, if I wanted to, I could beat him with one hand behind my back!"

Riku laughed softly as he shook his head at the image popping into his head. "You sure about that? I'm sure you could give him a challenge, but not with an unused hand. You can't even defeat me with two hands."

"Ah geez, did you have to bring that up?" Sora pouted slightly, resting his hands behind his head as he moved walking past Riku and heading into the older boy's room. "The only reason you can beat me is cause, if I won, everyone would be complaining that I hit the prince."

"They'd know it was just practice," Riku said, shrugging his shoulders as he turned following the other into the room and closing the door behind him. He didn't go too far, instead walking over to his dresser and opening it like he was looking for something. "And if they didn't, then that'd be their own fault for not paying attention." Sora kept his eye on the prince, watching at the other shook his head quickly and closed the dresser. He seemed to be doing a lot better than earlier, actually spending his moments to talk to Sora. It was almost like what had happened earlier wasn't real.

_That reminds me though…._

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Sora asked quietly, frowning slightly when the other seemed to register the question and look down.

"I'll…tell you when we get back," Riku said as he lifted his head up looking at Sora, his soft platinum hair blocking his eyes for a moment.

"When we get back?" Riku didn't reply right away, instead walking over to the closet and opening it up. He glanced at Sora for a second then reached in and pulled out a long black coat, tossing it to him. Sora caught it easily, eyes filled with confusion as he held it in his hands. What was this about? Exactly what did Riku mean by 'when we get back?' Were they going somewhere? "Eh…Riku…?"

"We're sneaking out," Riku said easily, another coat in his hand which he slipped on easily, quickly buttoning it shut before he pulled the hood up, covering his hair from view. Tying the hood in place, he looked at Sora, waiting on the other to put the coat on, obviously. Sora frowned still staring down at the coat, wondering when Riku had gotten the time to get coats and-

_W-wait!_

"D-did you just say sneak out!" Sora yelled out, head rising quickly in shock as he stared at Riku with wide eyes. Riku quickly placed a finger over his mouth as a sign to be silent, but still Sora was in shock. Sneaking out! Was Riku trying to get them into trouble! "We could get into a heap of trouble if someone finds out!" Sora said, trying his best to be quiet.

"Who's going to know unless we get caught," Riku said, a gleam shining in his eyes as he moved quickly heading for the window. "Hurry up and put your coat on." Blowing out the candle sitting on a desk nearby, Riku quickly opened up the window, climbing up easily to stand on the windowsill as he peered out into the darkness of night. Luckily, the stars were the only things making an appearance tonight or else this idea would have been shot to pieces. "There's some guards out there," Riku whispered softly, his eyes completely focused outside. Sora just sighed finally relenting and putting the coat on. When Riku had an idea he wanted to do, it was better to just let him have his way sometimes. But why were they sneaking out into the night?

"Riku, why-"

"I don't want to have to deal with the guards pestering me the whole time," Riku said, finally pulling his green eyes away to look at him. "It'll just be the two of us tonight…just like it should be…."

"Riku…?" Sora felt a shiver in his body and clenched his hands at his sides, quickly looking away from the prince. Just then…he'd felt that tingling feeling…when their eyes met. Glancing up again, he noticed Riku looking out the window again, looking like a wild animal about to be set free from his cage. Was it possible that Riku felt confined here?

_Duh…that makes sense._

"Once we get away," Riku said softly, "we'll have a little challenge to see which one of us is really the strongest." So that's what this was all about…or was there more? "Just make sure you keep up. There are more guards on patrol than usual. They say there's been a suspicious looking person wondering around lately."

"Wouldn't that be a better sign that maybe we shouldn't go?" Sora asked as he walked over, tugging his hood onto his head as he went. The least Riku could have done was maybe explain the plan a little better if he was going to include him. How were they supposed to get past a whole bunch of guards when they were a young prince and a soldier in training?

"All you have to do is stay close to me." Riku hesitated, looking at Sora for a second before he looked out again. Suddenly, without another word, he jumped, falling down from the two stories from his window to land casually onto the ground. Sora swallowed slightly and closed his eyes jumping down as well, though not landing as gracefully as he wobbled slightly on his feet before grabbing hold of Riku to keep his balance. "Try to stay quiet until we get out of the palace," Riku whispered to him before starting off again leaving the other staring after him in confusion and frustration.

How was he going to say all that to him after he was out the room? Like Sora had even agreed to this in the first place…though he was surprised by one thing. Normally, if they did anything, it was always the three of them. But this time, Riku didn't even mention Kairi in the mix.

_I wonder what that's about, anyway. Maybe it really is so we can spar together. I bet I'll win this time!_

Moving quietly in the darkness just ahead of him, Riku suddenly stopped, his hand coming up to hold Sora back as he pressed himself against the castle wall he was next too. A guard walked by, oblivious to the two boys hiding in the shadows of darkness as he stopped to yawn and stretch. While he was stretching, Riku grabbed hold of Sora's hand tugging the other behind him as he ran swiftly in the direction of the gate. All Sora could do was try to keep his hand from trembling, the tingles traveling up his body. Maybe Riku just had the magic touch to be able to cause this.

They got out of the palace easily, running quickly through the night. The town was quiet and dark, though music could be heard playing from varies bars around the city. The sound of people chattering about unimportant things reaching Sora's ears as well as a few comments about both him and Riku as they walked by. It probably wouldn't look so weird if they weren't wearing the strange coats. However, everyone knew what Prince Riku looked like, which would be even more problems if Riku hadn't worn his coat.

_Where are we going?_

For some reason, Riku had a particular destination he was going to. Sora couldn't help following him anyway, mentally noting the fact that Riku hadn't let go of his hand yet. Maybe he'd forgotten that he was holding Sora's hand. There were a few people in the city that happened to be awake, a majority of them being to drunk to even noticing their odd get up. He'd think people would be suspicious of them, but most of them just waved at him, singing drunkenly and dancing in the streets. Those that were not drunk, looked at them with curiosity, some not looking all that trustworthy by the way their hands were hidden in their pockets. Still, Riku and Sora alone could take them all out if necessary.

"Alright, this should be a perfect spot," Riku said as he stopped at the center of the square, which happened to be in the dead center of town. Strangely enough, not as many people were loitering around here, most of them still hanging out at the bar and probably not planning to head up so soon. Riku let go of his hand as he moved to the water fountain sitting at the very center and removed his coat, placing it on the edge of the fountain. He turned around again, a wooden sword in hand that Sora could only assume he'd taped onto his coat ahead of time.

"W-we're…going to do it here?"

"Yeah," Riku said in response as he twirled the sword around in his hand, showing off. For Riku to have gotten the coats and even taped his sword onto the back, he must have been planning this for a while now. When did Riku get the time to do all of this not to mention plan this? "Let's finally prove once and for all which one of us is the strongest."

"Alright then," Sora said, not hesitating for a moment as he took his coat off and tossed it to the side, crouching down as he pulled his sword free holding it in both hands. For some reason, he'd learned he was pretty good with a heavy sword. People laughed at that though, saying he'd picked up that habit from Cloud who also liked to use the heavy swords. But then again, there were a few times that Leon would send him to Cloud for training. And just like any other time, whenever he was around Cloud…he felt familiar. "When you lose, don't come crying to me!" Sora smiled as he moved starting to run towards Riku swiftly.

"Don't worry, you'll be the one losing this battle." Riku was running at him, wooden sword held high. Finally, he was going to learn if he was a match against Riku and vice versa. Even though he was a prince, Riku had always been good at fighting, as if it were a part of his soul. There weren't many that could be a challenge against him aside from Cloud and Leon of course. But Sora was determined to be one of them…though a part of him felt he had to prove himself to Riku. How could he become a guard if the one he was trying to protect could easily defeat him?

As Sora swung his sword out from the side, Riku came closer, his sword swinging out at Sora as his body twisted, moving out of the way of the wooden toy Sora was holding. Sora cursed slightly under his breath, the sword just barely missing him as he fall to the ground quickly watching as it flew over his face.

"Come on, Sora," Riku said laughing from somewhere behind him. "You've gotta do better than that if you think you'll win."

"I'm just getting started!" Sora pushed to his feet quickly holding the sword in both hands again, putting on his best determination face. Stepping back, he saw the smirk on Riku's face, his sword resting on his shoulder, and growled slightly reaching up to push his hair from his eyes. He was one of Leon's best students, he couldn't lose like this!

_I'm not going to let him get the better of me! _

"I thought you said you could beat me," Riku said as he slung the wooden sword down, ignoring the few people gathering around them to see what was up. "Just give up before you hurt yourself."

"I'm not giving up!" Sora said starting to run towards him again, the sword ready in his hands again. "I won't quit until I've shown you I can be just as strong!" Riku seemed content with this, not saying a word as he got ready to block, his feet spreading slightly as he held his sword ready. Trying a little different approach, Sora jumped up into the sky bringing the sword down from above his head, anticipating his next move as Riku stepped back, Sora landing onto the ground in front of him. Quickly, Sora stood back bringing his sword up only to have it met with the thud of Riku's wooden one, the two pushing their swords against each other, trying to will the other to loosen their guard.

"Hey," Riku said suddenly, his eyes staring into Sora's blue ones, a strangeness to them. "You like Kairi, don't you?"

"Hm?" Sora blinked before his eyebrows lowered in confusion. "Yeah. She's my friend too after all. Why wouldn't I like her?"

"No," Riku said as he shook his head slightly. "I mean…do you love Kairi? As in…more than just a friend?"

Sora's eyes shot open in surprise at the question, not realizing he was letting his guard down. Why was Riku asking these questions all of a sudden? "Riku…why-ack!" Suddenly he found himself lying on the floor, his head spinning slightly from the impact with the ground. He could feel the hard rocks beneath him as well as a warm body lying on top of him, Riku's face only inches from his own. The warmth he felt seemed to be spreading him though he wasn't sure why that was as he saw Riku's lips part slightly. "Uh…R-Riku…what…are you doing?"

"I want to know," Riku said, a look of desperation almost surfacing in his eyes as he stared down at him. He was using his body to pin the other down, preventing him from escaping. Somehow though, Sora didn't think he wanted to escape…but part of him did. What did he really feel for Kairi? She was pretty…and sometimes she did make him get that weird feeling that Riku seemed to give him as well. But Sora was sure that had to be because of their bond together. They'd always been together, the three of them. How was it that he was now out here with only Riku and no Kairi in sight? Was it so Riku could ask him this very question?

Though the warmth covering his body now was making him feel…weird. It seemed like it was effecting him more than usual. The fact that Riku was looking at him like he wanted to eat him or something didn't seem to be helping the feeling. In fact, it was only enhancing it even more, as well as the feeling of Riku's hot breath blowing lightly over his lips every time he breath. He knew he could feel a blush to his cheek, knew his thinking was going array yet he couldn't stop it at all.

_W-what's wrong with me!_

"Riku…I…think we…should get ba-"

"I'll take that as a yes then," Riku answered for him as he pushed himself up to his feet. Sora was left lying on the floor in both shock and confusion, his heart beating so fast in his chest he could feel it in his ears. What was that about? Just that easily Riku had let him up, standing there as if he hadn't just tackled Sora to the floor.

"W-wait a minute!" Sora yelled, finally managing to get to his feet though his whole body felt like it was trembling. Was this also from the effects of Riku? Or was it possibly from the chill finally coming onto the city? "What was that all about!" As Riku turned his back to him, Sora frowned and ran around to stand in front of Riku, turning to glare up at him. "Riku!"

"I'm getting married soon," Riku said softly, letting his eyes rest on the smaller boy standing in front of him with his hands on his hips. "The king has already made the arrangements for the day after tomorrow. I'm going to be married off to some girl named Namine." Sora frowned, not knowing what to say to that or why he felt… angry and upset by this. It not like he wouldn't be able to see Riku again, despite the fact that once Riku became king, being around him would become harder.

"But…why?" Sora asked, finally finding the question he wanted to ask him. "Why now?"

"I don't know," Riku replied as he rested a hand on Sora's shoulder. "That's not all. I also overhead the king and Leon talking. They were saying something about sending you somewhere…."

"Sending me somewhere?"

_Am I…that much trouble?_

Worry filled Sora's eyes as he glanced away, clenching his hands at his sides. Were they tired of him already? He hadn't even made it to being a soldier yet and already he was being kicked to the curb.

"It's not what you think," Riku said quickly, seeing the look in Sora's eyes. "It has nothing to do with getting rid of you. They were saying something about finding a door…somewhere east of here."  
"A door?" Folding his arms, Sora tilted his head to the side. "What's so special about a door?"

Riku carefully took hold of Sora's necklace, his fingers lightly brushing over the shiny metal as he smiled down at him. "They were saying that there was a symbol on the door, just like this necklace. They think there might be a connection between you and the door, the whole ruin even. It might have something to do with where you came from.."

"Really?" Hope filled Sora's eyes as he stared up at Riku. This might be it, his link to the past! Maybe he'd be able to find out who he really was, and why he'd ended up where he was? Maybe he'd find some clues to telling him where his real parents were, though he loved everyone here at Ansem's palace. "That's great! When do I go?"

"Tomorrow," Riku said as he let the necklace go reluctantly and started to walk away, grabbing their coats before heading back in the direction of the palace. "You'll be going with Cloud and Leon…and I think Yuffie too."

"Aww man, not them!" Sora started to follow him, resting his hands behind his head as he rolled his eyes. "Yuffie's such a pain in the butt. She never knows how to be quiet. And Leon will probably make me train when I'm out there." Riku laughed softly, glancing over his shoulder as he looked at Sora.

"That's probably the point. It won't be good if you're slacking off."

Sora nodded his head slightly agreeing with the statement even if he didn't like it. He could train by himself, no problem! But Leon was a train-aholic! And with Sora being the only one there, he might work him even more than usual! He stopped walking suddenly, remembering the other question Riku had asked him not all that long ago. "Hey Riku? Why did you want to know if I…you know…liked Kairi…?" Sora felt a slight blush to his cheeks but ignored it, hoping the darkness would hide it. It helped that Riku didn't turn around, though the other did stop walking, staying still. "Riku?"

"I just wanted to be sure…that'd you'd protect her if I wasn't there to be able to. That's all."

"Oh," Sora said frowning slightly before he smiled and walked up to stand beside Riku, tilting his head up to look at him. "You don't have to worry about a thing! I'll protect both you and Kairi! I promise!"

"Protect me?" Riku asked looking down at him. There was a set look to Sora's eyes, his opinion not changing as his nodded his head quickly. "…Thank you."

"Hehe you're getting all mushy on me," Sora said laughing softly and patting Riku on the shoulder. "Well, let's hurry back before the king finds us and we get in trouble."

"Yeah, good idea." The two of them started back together, Riku walking quickly beside Sora as the other started to talk about the drags of having to go anywhere with the trio he'd be stuck with tomorrow. Well, at least it couldn't get any worse, right?

* * *

"I hate him!" Roxas yelled out suddenly, pacing back and forth in his little room. It always felt like he was in a small box when he came here, the small room only containing one bed and a desk. There wasn't even a lamp, not even a little bit of light shining into the dark room. For some reason, that was just the way Roxas liked it, dark. A dark lump sat on his bed, or more like lay on his back taking it over as it watched the angry boy pacing back and forth, almost like a cat.

"What's with this all of a sudden?" Axel asked as he sat up on the bed, looking at his angry, ranting friend. The two of them had been with each other for a while now, ever since their leader had found the baby Roxas abandoned by the side of the road. It was bad enough he had such a crappy start in life, but now with their leader feeding him all kinds of information about the one named Sora… about how fortunate he was, Roxas was having problems coping with his way of living. Though he wasn't always so upset, the mentions of the missing prince always seemed to set Roxas off.

"I don't know," Roxas said quickly, his hands clenched at his sides as he glared at the closest wall. Why was he always left behind? He should be up there, living the life that Sora was living if not better! Why was Sora so ahead! Maybe it was that stupid Ansem's fault or that stupid prince boy and his girly long hair. "I think I know what to do…."

"Whoa, what to do?" Frowning, Axel stood up from the bed moving carefully so he wouldn't wind up provoking Roxas's anger. The other could get really violent when he wanted to. "What are you planning?"

"It's something simple," Roxas said with a shrug as he turned to look at Axel, a smile on his face. "I'll just kill those closest to him. I'll kill the prince and his cousin. That way, Sora will have to suffer like me."

"Don't you think that's a bit much?" Axel said as he rested his hands on Roxas's shoulders, hoping to bring him out of this train of thought. "Think about it. That would cause panic in more than one place…and you know…HE won't like that all."

"I don't care what HE thinks or what HE does to me." Roxas moved back causing Axel's hands to drop away as he turned to the door. "I know almost everything about Sora, I even know his next move. When he leaves tomorrow…I'll just kill the prince."

With a sigh, Axel just shook his head, holding his hands up as if giving up. "Fine, go ahead and kill the prince. I won't stop you."

"I want you to go with me," Roxas said, his eyes staring through the darkness as if he could see Axel standing before him with that grin on his face.

"It may be suicide, but I'll go anyway. Besides, it's a front row seat to an awesome show! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Nodding his head, Roxas turned away and started out of the room, expecting and yet knowing the other would follow him. The two of them were inseparable. Where one went, the other followed. It would have to take death itself to separate them…and even that might not work.

"Thank you," was all Roxas said as he moved, heading for the front door to the little mansion they all happened to stay in. There were more, lots more of them…but the only one Roxas ever associated himself with was Axel. And if Axel were to ever die on him…he'd be sure to follow him.

TBC…

Well, there ends chapter 2. I hope it was enjoyable! I've already started on chapter 3 :blinks: and completely neglected my other fanfics because of this one. Hehe I think I might be getting the hang of Riku and Sora. Now to work on Axel and Roxas better. Chapter 3 coming as soon as I finish it!


	3. Princely Garbs 03

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Hehe, I feel so addicted to this story now even I'm just making it up as I go. I have some things preset that I want to happen but the rest of it well...anyway. Enjoy the read and thankies for all the reviews. I'm glad you all enjoy it.

Princely Garbs 3

"So those are your orders," King Ansem said from his spot on the throne, looking down at the three males plus one female that stood before him, staring up at him in attention as they received their orders. Yuffie, having been there for as long as Sora could remember, was a soldier of five years now. She was one of the rare few females to make it into the army, bringing down almost everyone that stood in her path.

_I bet her mouth could kill more than her weapons._

Sora had to bite his lips to keep from laughing at the thought. Yuffie was the type that could talk and keep talking for several hours and more. It wasn't surprising when people said she could 'talk her opponents to death' if they hadn't already given up anyway. She also happened to be pretty good with interrogations, surprisingly, though both Cloud and Leon still beat her in that. Leon still had this way of giving you the look that said you better do it or else. And Cloud…well Cloud sometimes did more than just threatening a person…and so far he'd been able to get information out of every person that he interrogated. In Yuffie's case, people just confessed just to be able to get her to shut up. That made Sora wonder which he'd rather suffer through. Well, at least Leon didn't hurt you or make your ears bleed.

"All I want you to do is take Sora to the door and investigate it as well as the area." King Ansem frowned as he rubbed at his beard slightly, looking the four of them over. "There did used to be a kingdom there, but some years back I received reports that the kingdom had been destroyed and no survivors found." His eyes landed on Sora as he said his next line. "Perhaps you could find something of use there…as well as a clue to why it'd been attacked and how."

"Yes sir!" The four members saluted quickly, resting their hands on their chest.

"You're dismissed."

* * *

"Hey Sora!"

"Hm?" Sora looked over at the voice and smiled as he saw Kairi coming up the hallway to meet him along with Riku. Kairi giggled softly, stopping in front of him and reached up touching the flower in her hair that he was certain she'd picked from the garden. Riku smiled slightly too, though he seemed to be a bit agitated, as was noticed by the tensing in his body. Was he bothered by last night? Or was he bothered by what was going to happen tomorrow? Did Kairi know?

"Sorry we couldn't go with you," Kairi said sticking her tongue out slightly as she rested her hands behind her back. "But you know how it is. The guards would have a field day if we went."

"Yeah," Riku said adding in his own input. "We get stuck in this boring castle while you get to go out, play hero, and have adventures."

"Guys," Sora said smiling though feeling slightly embarrassed by what Riku had said. "It's not like I'm strong enough to be a hero." Suddenly, he felt arms encircling him, warm lips being pressed on his cheek causing him to blush as he looked down at Kairi in surprise.

"You be careful out there, ok?" She smiled at him as she stepped back, giggling slightly and blushing herself at what she'd just done. "It'll be embarrassing if you wind up getting carried home by Leon."

"It's not like it'll be dangerous out there," Sora said though his hand was resting on his red cheek. Had Kairi just kissed him? Even though it hadn't been direct, it still felt…good. "B-but, I'm glad you care for me." He closed his eyes giving a small smile as he scratched behind his head nervously. Kairi smiled before she looked up at her cousin.

"Well?" she said resting her hands on her hips, her head shifting to the side slightly to get her hair from out of her eyes. "Aren't you going to stay good bye?"

"What do you want me to do? Kiss him too?" Riku had his arms folded, a smirk on his lips as he looked at Sora. Something about that looked really made Sora blush as he held up his hands shaking them back and forth in front of him to deter attention from him.

"N-no, you don't have to do that!" Sora said quickly, watching as the other frowned and stepped closer to him.

"Why? Something wrong with my lips?" Riku asked, though there was a joking undertone to it, something Sora didn't seem to be catching.

"I-it's not that!" Sora replied as he took a step back, not sure why he was feeling so jittery suddenly. "It's um….w-well…"

"Hey, kid." Sora glanced back at the voice, thankful for the distraction as he saw Cloud standing further down the hallway looking at him. "Quit stalling and let's get moving. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get back."

"Ah! Yes sir!" Sora turned quickly, smiling at his two friends. He tried to use his hands to rub the blushing away though he doubted it was helping. He could still feel the fast beating of his heart in his chest. "I-I'll see you guys when I get back ok?"

"So long, Sora!" Kairi smiled and waved at him, blowing a small kiss at him. "We'll be waiting for your return so hurry and come back soon!"

"Yep," Riku said as he leaned forward giving Sora a kiss on his other cheek, opposite of the one Kairi had kissed. "Hurry back," Riku whispered into his ear as he hugged him close. "It won't feel right without my protector near me."

"R-Riku…?" But as soon as the hug had been given he was let go again and Sora found himself staring up in shock at Riku. He was acting strange again…and it was driving Sora crazy, mind and body! He was starting to realize that maybe…he was attracted to the young prince…but something like that wouldn't be allowed. Especially since Riku needed to have a wife in order to bare a child. Sora shook his head quickly of that thought and smiled at the two of them, waving good bye once more before he turned heading quickly in the direction of the blonde headed soldier standing down the hallway waiting on him.

He tried to forget what had just happened, but the feel of Riku's lips on his skin as well as the whisper of his voice in his ear…just wouldn't leave his mind. Sora mentally noted that the kiss seemed to drown out the one he'd been given by Kairi, but he blamed it on the fact that Riku had used such intense words to brush such thoughts away. Maybe the kiss didn't really mean anything, after all it was a good bye kiss. And it was only natural considering this was Sora's first time away from the palace and the both of them.

"You ready to go?" Cloud asked as soon as Sora was close enough.

Sora nodded, holding a fist in front of him as he grinned, the grin being messed up by the blush on his face. "Yeah. Let's go." Cloud seemed to be staring at the blush, but he said nothing as he turned starting down the hallway and leading Sora away to the horses outside that would take them to the ruins and their mission. Sora could only hope he'd find something of importance while he was there.

* * *

Leon frowned as they rode along, listening to the chattering going on between Yuffie and Sora. Actually, Yuffie seemed to be teasing Sora about something, considering that the other was blushing like crazy and denying loudly whatever Yuffie said. Hearing the two of them talking about laundry and something about Leon not wearing underwear made Leon think that maybe sticking Sora with laundry duty was a bad idea. It was bad enough that the girls in the laundry room seemed to constantly tease him, poking at his ass to try and see if he had underwear on or not. The last thing he needed was for his trainee to start trying to find the answers, too.

Glancing to the side, he noticed Cloud riding quietly beside him. Though the silence wasn't anything new, the look in Cloud's eyes seemed to be saying something, though reading it was hard. Was Cloud feeling anxious…or maybe sad? Was Cloud possibly upset cause he was missing a date? Nah, Cloud dated about as much as Leon did. That wasn't very often if ever. The two of them lived for training and for fighting, the very thing that had gotten them their positions in the first place and created a bond between them.

_Why am I worrying about him?_

Cloud shifted slightly on the horse, glancing over when he felt eyes on him. He seemed to stare at Leon for a few seconds before he looked away again, off towards the long grasses and tall trees. What was that look about? Leon shrugged it off, not worrying over it any longer as they kept riding. They had to be getting close by now.

"…and I was telling Aerith the other day that Riku and Kairi were both competing for your attention but she didn't really believe that and said that I was thinking too much," Yuffie rambling as she smiled at Sora, not even noticing his discomfort with the conversation. "So then I told her that I saw how they both acted around you and that Riku sometimes got jealous and would go doing stuff to get Kairi jealous."

Yes…they had to be getting close now….

"Um….Y-yuffie, could we…talk about something else?" Sora asked softly, but Yuffie seemed to keep going.

"Did you know Aerith disagrees with me asking you which one you like most? I told her I think you like Riku the most. You're always being so 'buddy buddy' with him. I bet you've had a sleepover in his room, haven't you? What'd you guys do? Did you talk about anything? Did you do anything? I know guys experiment sometimes so I was wondering if you two did anything like that too? It's probably none of my business but I wanna know!"

_I'll kill her…._

"Yuffie," Leon said warningly as he looked over his shoulder at her. "Keep quiet before you wind up drawing attention to us."

Yuffie laughed slightly and winked an eye at him as she sped her horse up a bit. "Sorry about that, Squall. Even if you are a spoiled sport."

_Damn it, that idiot!_

"Squall?" Sora asked in confusion and Yuffie laughed nervously as she patted his shoulder.

"Nope, I said Squawk. As in, he squawks like a bird it's so annoying." Sora laughed softly about to open his mouth to agree but shut it quickly when he noticed Leon glaring at him.

"I think we're there," Cloud said suddenly from beside him and Leon quickly turned his attention up ahead, temporarily forgetting the two young ones behind him as he did.

"Yeah, I think this is the place," he said as he stared at the ruins right before his eyes. It was definitely a palace, standing tall and worn, a feeling of being unused for a long time reaching Leon's senses. He glanced back at Sora again, eyes resting on the necklace around the boy's neck. That symbol and this palace…they were somehow connected as well at the young trainee wearing it. Maybe they'd be able to find out the answers to all their questions…like how a kingdom of people could all just disappear in one night. When an investigation had been set up years back, they had come up empty handed. There was no trace of anything, no blood, no nothing; just an empty palace that gave off creepy vibes.

"Let's go in," Leon said as they stopped in front of the palace.

* * *

"Ewww. That place looks decrepit." Yuffie made a face as she climbed off her horse. "Is this really the place?"

"Yeah," Cloud said getting off his horse as well, the rest of them following suit. "This is the place, I'm sure of that." Leon just looked at him, starting to wonder how much Cloud knew. No one knew a thing about Cloud's past. But Cloud didn't answer questions asked about his past either. To Leon, Cloud was an enigma. Though King Ansem had been quick to trust him…Leon still had his doubts about the man at times. "Let's go in."

Sora frowned as he stepped into the palace, his eyes glancing around quickly. It felt so familiar, like he'd been here before. He let his hands brush lightly against the stone walls, a smile lifting to his face as he almost saw a smaller version of himself running through the halls here. This felt like a home, like some place he'd belonged. But that didn't answer the questions of why. What happened to the people that lived here? Why couldn't he remember? Maybe he'd just been too young to remember.

"So where's the door at?" Yuffie asked, her hands on her hips, as she looked at the two grumpy, but good looking men that had walked on ahead. That was a good question. Sora felt he needed to stay focus. He hadn't come here for reminiscing about a past he couldn't remember. He came here to find answers and to find out what this door was about.

"The soldiers said it was down in the basement," Leon answered as he looked at her, a look of annoyance on his face. "So would you pipe down and stop acting like a spoiled little girl?"

"Hmph, that was mean!" Yuffie huffed slightly then looked at Sora, the younger boy blinking in confusion as she grabbed his hand tugging on it. "Hey, let's go find that door and leave the two grouches up here to angst."

"Um…I…guess we…"

"Sora, come here." Sora gave her an apologetic smile as he pulled his hand free and ran over to Cloud quickly.

"Yes, I mean yes sir. What's up?" Cloud was silent a moment, just looking at him making Sora feel a little nervous before he finally looked away.

"If something happens when we go see the door…don't panic." Cloud looked at him again before he took a finger and touched it to the necklace making Sora look down at it in confusion. "This…is the key to unlocking that door…to the greatest power ever known."

"Power? The key?" Sora frowned in confusion. None of this was making any sense to him. So why was Cloud explaining this all to him suddenly? What did Cloud know that he wasn't telling Sora? "Why is my necklace the key? And what kind of power is behind that door?"

"It's a power that only the royal family of this kingdom can wield," Cloud said easily, ignoring the look that Leon was giving them from across the room, probably trying to figure out what they were talking about. "And also…it's not the necklace that makes the key…it's you as well."

"Me?" Sora said pointing at himself before he shook his head quickly. "Why would it be me?"

"Because…this is your kingdom," Cloud said as he rested his hand on Sora's shoulder looking into his eyes to keep his attention, letting him know that this was all real. "You're the prince of the fallen kingdom and the last survivor of the royal family."

* * *

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Riku looked up from where he'd been sitting on his windowsill looking out at the sky. He saw Kairi standing at the door, a worried expression on her face, before he looked back out the window. Things just…didn't feel the same when Sora wasn't around. It wasn't like the other was going to be gone for long but still….

_I wonder what they found behind that door._

"There's nothing wrong with me," Riku said simply though not looking away from the window. He'd had his fun when he'd sneaked out late last night with Sora. And he'd received all the answers he wanted from that simple night…though he wanted more. He knew he liked Sora more than he should have, but he couldn't help it. Sora was special to him…even more special that the girl standing behind him. It's not like he didn't like his cousin, but he felt a special bond with Sora, something he couldn't feel with Kairi.

"You're a horrible liar," Kairi said, the fact that she sounded like she was right behind him a sign that she'd come into his room. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Yeah," Riku said quietly, glancing to the side as he saw her come to stand by the window, looking out as well.

"I miss him too," she said smiling softly before she looked at him. "Even though it hasn't even been a full day. It feels like he's been gone forever."

"Yeah," Riku said again, not caring about the fact that he didn't seem to have much else to say. What else was he going to say? Yes, I miss Sora and love him very much, more than that stupid girl I'm going to get stuck marrying tomorrow. Like that'd work. Kairi would probably look at him like he was crazy, not to mention that she seemed to like Sora just as much as he did.

"Have you eaten at all today?" Kairi asked, reaching up to tug her hair behind her ear, watching him.

"I haven't," Riku replied, finally looking up at her. There was no helping this. Kairi didn't look like she was about to give up and leave him alone…maybe he should just go along with it for a while. Maybe it would help calm him down so he wouldn't feel like he was worrying the death over Sora…who was definitely safe considering the fighters he had escorting him. "Let's get something to eat then," he said as he stood to his feet, smiling slightly when Kairi looked at him.

"Alright, finally! You had me worried." She started out of the room, only glancing back to make sure Riku was following before she kept moving. "I think maybe we should get them to cook something really yummy. But they already cook the best food in the world."

Riku followed on behind her, and was about to exit his room with Kairi before something stopped him. It wasn't really a force but like a feeling of something not being right. Turning around, he saw the figure standing there before he even knew what was happening. Kairi had just about to step out the door when it slammed shut in front of her. She jumped and turned around quickly in surprising, her eyes widening when she saw the figure standing there. Another figure was crouched on the windowsill staring at them, his flaming red hair standing out more than everything else.

"Look at that," the red head said as he jumped off the windowsill, coming to stand beside his partner. "Two birds with one stone. How lucky is that?"

"Hmph." Roxas folded his arms slightly, staring at Riku as the other moved and stood in front of Kairi protectively. He didn't have a weapon, but he'd do what he could to protect her. She turned quickly, tugging on the door handle trying to get the door open, but it wouldn't budge.

"It won't open!" Kairi yelled out as she turned looking at Riku then at the two males over his shoulders. "What are we going to do! What's going on!"

_This is crazy! How on earth did they make it this far!_

"I'd stay quiet if I were you," Axel said laughing as he sat himself down on the windowsill getting relaxed. "You might get aquick and painlessdeath if you just calm down and try not to provoke him."

"You act like I'm a heartless murderer," Roxas said, keeping his eyes on the two cousins though he spoke to Axel. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Sometimes I wonder…."

"What do you guys want?" Riku said, breaking into the conversation as he glared at them.

"I want you dead," Roxas said easily as he stared at Riku. "I want you dead so Sora will feel pain."

"I won't allow it," Riku said, glancing to the side at the wall. Something told him he wouldn't be able to defeat these guys, even with a real sword. "I don't care who you are, I won't allow you to hurt Sora." Riku turned his head glaring at them once again. Roxas seemed to stare there for a moment, like he was registering what was said. If he looked hard enough, Riku was certain he saw something in the guy's eyes, something that reminded him of Sora. They both seemed alike in many ways though also very different, and all that gained from just a short period of time.

"So he's that important to you," Roxas said, not really making it seem like a question, as if he already knew the answer.

"Yes," Riku said in return, "I'd give my life to protect him…but if that meant I'd be hurting him then I'll do everything in my power to keep that from happening." Roxas closed his eyes thinking about that, his partner standing beside him and glancing down at him, curious as to what the younger one was thinking.

"Alright…" Roxas said as he opened his eyes and pointed a finger at Riku. "I'm willing to let this slide. I'll let you live…despite my hatred for him."

"However, you have to tell Sora to meet with us alone," Axel added suddenly causing Roxas to look up at him in shock.

"W-what!" Roxas yelled out staring up at Axel. Riku almost laughed at that, despite the fact that his life and Kairi's were being threatened, the expression on Roxas's face and the action itself reminding him of Sora. What was the relationship between Sora and these guys? What did they know? "I don't want to meet him!" Roxas stepped away from him. "You never had any intentions of letting me kill him, did you!"

"Not in the least," Axel said as he stretched his arms above his head. "I was waiting to see what you'd do first before intervening. You know that HE wouldn't be happy about this. I'm only saving you the pains of having to deal with HIM later. Besides, it'll get some things off your chest if you do," Axel reached down a hand resting it on top of Roxas's head. He ignored the look directed at him from the shorter male as he looked over at Riku, giving him a little grin. "Just tell him to meet us in town by the water fountain…I'm sure you know where that place is." Riku blushed slightly but nodded his head, eyeing the two of them suspiciously.

_What are they trying to gain? Are they planning to kill Sora?_

"I'll agree…only if I'm allowed to go with him."

"…I guess that can't be helped," Axel said acting like he was thinking about it as he rested his hand on his chin. "But the girl has to stay here."

"Riku," Kairi said softly, holding onto Riku's arm as she kept her eyes on the two males, trembling slightly.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to him," Riku said quickly to push away her worries, his eyes warily watching the two males in front of him. Roxas was looking down at the floor, like he was lost in thought as he listened to the two of them talking. "So when are we going to do this?"

"Let's do it tonight," Axel said. "When he returns. After all, they might find out what we're up to if we wait too long. I want to get this over with so he'll calm down."

_They? Who are they? _

"I am calm!" Roxas said quickly, glaring up at Axel. "I don't see why I have to meet him! I want to kill him, not meet him!"

Axel frowned slightly staring down at the smaller boy as he rested his hand on his forehead. "Cause, I miss the old Roxas. If we can get this off your chest, maybe you'll cool down a little." He looked back at Riku as he moved over and stood up on the windowsill. "Just tell him meet us tonight at the water fountain. Make sure you both are there alone or we'll have to kill anyone else that shows up." He moved then, jumping out of the window. Roxas stood glaring at Riku for a moment before he turned diving out the window as well. Running over quickly, Riku peered out the window only to see nothing below. How did they move so fast?

"Riku!" Kairi cried out as she ran over hugging him tightly from behind. "W-what's going on! Who were those guys!"

"I don't know," Riku said, allowing her to hug on him if only so she'd feel comforted. "But I won't let them hurt you or Sora. I promise."

TBC….

Well, nothing too major happened this chapter. :yawns softly: Aside from Sora learning a few things and that weird moment with Roxas and Axel. Sorry, still learning them.


	4. Princely Garbs 04

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Ah right, to the comment on whether or not that one guard was dead…sadly, yes he's dead. As to all the confusion on Roxas? Well…I'd like to explain, but it's more a "you'll just have to wait and see why he's so angry with Sora all the time.":snickers: Sorry.

Princely Garbs 4

"A prince? Me?" Sora had his fingers pointed at himself, his eyes wide in shock. There was no way he could be a prince! He was only supposed to be a trainee to King Ansem's kingdom! And even if he had come from this forgotten place, he couldn't have been more than a servant or a stable boy.

_But then how did I get this?_

He glanced down at the necklace around his neck, fingers wrapping gently around the thing before he looked back up at Cloud, his eyes searching for answers. If this was all true then how was it that Cloud knew so much about it? Was he from here too? Even King Ansem didn't seem to know much about this place. Just…what kind of kingdom was this?

"What are you guys talking about?" Leon asked, coming over now though looking suspiciously at Cloud.

"It's really none of your business," Cloud said, letting his eyes roam around the palace like he was searching out something.

"It this has anything to do with Sora or in any way, a threat to the kingdom, then it's completely my business." He moved in front of Sora, pushing the other behind him protectively as he glared down at Cloud though the other seemed to be ignoring him either way. Sora glanced around Leon, frowning as Cloud closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall uncaring. "Answer me, Strife!" Grabbing Cloud's shirt, Leon pulled him closer lifting him off the ground slightly only to be met by blue eyes of indifference. Why was Cloud being like this? And Leon…this was the first time Sora had ever seen him so angry before, especially at Cloud.

"You guys, stop!" Yuffie ran over, stepping between the two of them and pushing them away from each other, looking at them both before her cheeks puffed out. "You shouldn't be acting like this to each other. You're like the best of friends!" Sora couldn't help shaking his head at that.

_Isn't that an exaggeration?_

But really, Cloud was one of the few people that managed to get Leon to be sociable with him likewise, the only one that could get Cloud to open up and say what's on his mind was Leon. Well then again, they were both the quiet types that didn't like being around people. Maybe they were perfect friends for each other.

_I wonder what makes me and Riku so close…_

"The only reason I even became a soldier in King Ansem's army," Cloud whispered, letting his eyes slide past to meet those of Sora who was still behind Leon, "was to protect Sora. He is the prince of my kingdom…and I am a soldier of that kingdom…we're the two last survivors of Kingdom Hearts. And I will protect him until I die."

"Cloud…?" Sora started to move to him, but a hand was held out, his way blocked by Leon who didn't seem to be buying it, instead continuing to glare at him. "Leon…he-"

"Where do your loyalties lie?" Leon asked, Sora staring up at him in surprise. Why would he ask a question like that? Of course, Cloud's loyalty was with the king! It had to!

Cloud was staring straight at him, no true emotion being expressed as he opened his mouth to reply. "It lays with the king," he said, "and Sora. Even if this kingdom has been destroyed, he is still the prince…and he must take responsibility for what's been left for him to do."

"Take responsibility?" Sora frowned, slipping past Leon's arm as he stood in front of Cloud staring up at him. "What is…my responsibility?" Yuffie watched them; her lip poked out, though she kept an eye on Leon whom didn't look happy about any of this.

"Sora," Leon said warningly and resting a hand on his shoulder but Sora ignored it, taking hold of Cloud's hand with both his as he looked up at him in earnest.

"I have to know," Sora said before he glanced back at Leon, hoping the other would understand. "For the sake of knowing who I am…and…for those that lost their lives while I lived." He looked down, his hands tightening around Cloud's feeling the other tightening the hold back, if only for the sake of the young boy. "Even if…I don't want to…I have to know…why? Why my home destroyed…why Cloud and I are the only ones alive…why…everyone had to die…."

"…." Sighing, Leon brushed a lock of hair from out of his eyes before he turned his eyes to Cloud. "Fine…but if anything happens to either Sora, the king, or the prince and his cousin, I'll kill you."

"Thanks," Cloud said, almost daring a smile, but turned away quickly, guiding Sora by the hand as he started off towards a set of stairs leading down. "The door's down these steps." Leon nodded and started to follow the two but stopped when he saw Yuffie looking at him, with this sort of knowing look on her face.

"What?" He said and she just grinned at him, patting him on the back as she winked an eye.

"He's using his charms on you," Yuffie said holding up a finger and laughing. Sora rolled his eyes and look away. Yuffie seemed to have this thought that Leon and Cloud had a thing for each other. But so far, Sora had seen no signs of it. "Oh, I'm definitely keeping an eye on you two from now on."

"There's nothing to keep an eye on," Leon said as he walked away from her. "So stay out of it."

"Hehe. But if there's nothing to keep an eye on, why stay out of 'it'? What's going on in 'it' that you're not telling me about?" Growling under his breath, Leon moved faster, leaving the girl to stay behind and watch in pure giddiness. "Aww, come on, Squall! I'm just playing, don't take it so hard!"

"It's Leon!"

"But Squall sounds so much cooler!"

"Argh! Whatever!"

_I wonder why Yuffie always calls him Squall? _

Sora glanced back at the two, noticing the frustrated look on Leon's face…and the pure bliss on Yuffie's…and decided that maybe he was better off not knowing. He noticed that he was still holding Cloud's hand and finally let go, continuing the follow the other on down the steps. There were several doors down there as well as some locked up rooms to prevent prisoners from escaping, though none should be alive. It led his thoughts to wondering what kind of people had lived there, and whether he'd have fit in with them. Still, the idea that he was a prince still shocked him. Someone like him being a prince? That was unthinkable! And yet, here Cloud was saying that he'd been the prince of this place called Kingdom Hearts.

_I wonder who came up with a name like that?_

He smiled sadly at that. His father had probably came up with that…or his father before him…or maybe even further back than that. That meant his father had been king, just like Riku's father. And that made Sora a prince, just like Riku. Now they had even more in common!

"I can't wait to tell Riku and the others," Sora said quietly, feeling the excitement rushing through him.

"You can't," Cloud said, stopping in front of a white door that didn't like it fit inside such a dingy place at all. There was a golden crown on the door, shaped exactly like Sora's necklace.

A pout lifted to Sora's face. "Why not?"

"I'll explain afterwards," Cloud said, just as Sora's necklace gave a flash and the door slid open suddenly. It was enough to almost make Sora run…but he stayed put, staring at Cloud in confusion and curiosity. When he saw his nod of approval Sora took a deep breath and went into the room. The inside looked basically like any other cell, housing spider webs and it's share of dust. The only difference was the desk sitting at the back of the room along with a giant key that lay across the top. As if the key itself didn't seem weird, it was completely void of spiders webs and dust, looking brand new like it'd just been made ten seconds ago.

So far everything seemed ok as he glanced back at Cloud. He paused when he saw Leon starting to come in, only to be blocked by Cloud's arm as the other shook his head to him. Leon frowned but stepped back, folding his arms across his chest and staring worriedly in at the boy making his way towards the key.

_Nice to know he cares._

Of course sometimes, Leon did make him think of a mother hen, despite his 'don't bother me' personality. It wasn't like there was danger in the room so why did Cloud stop him? Sighing, Sora turned his eyes back to the key as he stopped in front of it. Something about the thing seemed to be just drawing him in as he reached down, brushing his fingers against it lightly. As soon as he touched the key, his necklace flashed, so sudden that Sora pulled his hand back in surprise. It did it again. Why? Was it responding to the touch or the necklace? Biting his lips, Sora took the plunge and reached down quickly grabbing the key by the handle and picking it up.

That seemed to really set something off, his crown necklace flaring to life brightly as his eyes slipped shut, mouth opened slightly. He felt there was a wind from somewhere, though he couldn't figure out where. Either way, it was blowing his hair and clothes around wildly, his eyes opening to find the necklace floating off his chest, a glowing surrounding his body all the way down and even around the key in his hand. Yep, this was definitely no ordinary key. He thought he heard a voice from behind him before he fell to his knees, the key disappearing from hand releasing him from the intensity of the power he felt flooding through him. He knelt there panting softly, feeling a hand on his shoulder and voices calling out to him.

Sora lifted his head up, finding Leon holding both his shoulder and talking down to him, just barely understanding what Leon was as he grinned up at him idiotically, nodding his head in response. That was definitely a rush he didn't mind feeling again. Something about the way that power just warmed his whole body up…it had felt good. It had felt better than he had expected anything to ever feel. But now the key was gone, confusion rising to his face as he stared up at him.

"Where's the key?" He asked, almost pouting at it having left.

"Keyblade," Cloud said from his spot beside Leon. Yuffie stood on the other side of him, the worry instantly disappearing from her face as she looked like she wanted to poke fun at him.

"Key…blade?" Sora frowned. What the heck was a keyblade? Leon helped him to his feet and he wobbled slightly, his legs feeling a little weak from the ordeal…something that was now making him blush because of…what the feeling reminded him of.

"A weapon used by the royal family of Kingdom Hearts," Cloud said as he pointed at Sora's necklace. "The weapon is kept within and can only be used by the selected one."

"Ah…wait what?" Confusion was written on Sora's face and Cloud sighed, slowing things down a bit as he explained. "The keyblade…that thing you were holding, is a weapon used like a sword to defeat anything possessed by the power of darkness. It's a power that only the person selected by the keyblade can use."

"But you just said that-"

"The royal family," Cloud continued, "for some reason…the royal family has always been the only ones to be able to wield the keyblade." Cloud made sure to catch Sora's eye as he continued. "That's why…you can't tell Riku or the others about it."

"But why?" He poked his lip out again, pouting as he tried to give Cloud the pleading eyes. "At least Riku and Kairi. They're my best friends!"

_I can't keep things from them!_

"This goes for you two as well," Cloud said looking at Leon and Yuffie. Well, Leon could keep a secret like he could keep well…anything. It wasn't going to get out no matter what. Yuffie, however, was another matter all together. Where there was gossip, Yuffie was there to find it, research it, or even spill it out in the first place! And that's how the rumor that Riku liked wearing women's panties came about. And Sora still thought about that rumor to this day.

_I wonder what colors he would wear…._

"You have to keep this quiet," Cloud said, snapping his finger to get Sora's attention back again, "because there are assassins after you. A group called Organization XIII."

"Organization XIII?"

"What kind of group is that?" Yuffie asked, now completely focused on this group that wanted to have her young friend killed. "Cause I'll seriously have to kick some tail if they try and hurt little Sora." Sora frowned looking down, not liking the idea that someone was out to kill him. Was it a good idea, him going back to the palace? What if they tried to hurt Riku and Kairi and all the others back there? Was this how everyone died here?

Cloud seemed to know what Sora was thinking and rested a hand on his shoulder, giving him a small smile of reassurance. "What happened back then…was not your fault, Sora." He moved over to a spot by the wall and leaned back against it, folding his arms as he stared at the floor. "You were too young to know what was happening. No one knew this would happen…but somehow they managed to invade the kingdom." He closed his eyes.

"I remember…telling a soldier to get you out of the palace…. We were the last ones standing, the king and queen already dead. The palace shouldn't have been breech; it was protected by magic. The darkness shouldn't have been able to touch this place, but somehow it did." He clenched his hands at his sides as he remembered. "Someone in the palace…someone close to the king must have been passing information off to the other side…in order for them to have easily overtaken us." Sighing, he let that thought go as he looked at Sora. "There was no one else alive when I left…the palace was gone but I still had a duty left, to protect the prince. I knew about a kid living at King Ansem's palace that had a crown necklace…and once I got a glimpse of you, I knew you were the prince." Pushing from the wall, he walked over to Sora and reached down resting his hand on top of Sora's head, ruffling his hair slightly. "All I had to do was find a way into the palace…so I became a soldier."

"And that's how you got to where you are now," Sora said, nodding his head in understanding before he grinned up at him. "I'm glad you found me."

Leon gave them both a look, frowning slightly before he tilted his head to the side towards the door. "Let's head back. The king is probably waiting for us to report in."

"Yeah sure." Sora said, but still looking up at Cloud, that huge grin still on his face. "So…you're like my older brother."

"Older brother?" Cloud blinked in confusion at that.

"Yeah!" Sora rested his hand behind his head as he turned to follow Leon out of the room. "Cause you've been watching over me all this time, just like a big brother."

"And you almost have the same hair styles," Yuffie added in, laughing when Sora looked over at her and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Well I guess that's true," Cloud said, frowning but following along behind the two of them. "But Leon protects you just as much as I do."

"That's cause it's my duty," Leon said, sounding defensive as he kept walking. "It's orders from the king that I keep an eye on him."

"Don't try to hide it, Squall," Yuffie teased as she walked beside him, patting him on the back hard. "You know you care about Sora just as much as the rest of us."

"It's Leon," he corrected, sending her a glare. "And I don't care about anyone. I do my job according to the king's orders, something the rest of you should learn to do." He walked off then, ignoring Yuffie's frustrating call towards him as she followed him.

Sora frowned, and glanced over at Cloud noticing the other was frowning as well. "You think he's alright?"

As if he noticed that he was frowning, the look melted from Cloud's face into a blank expression, though his eyes continued staring off in the direction that Leon had went. "Probably still upset about everything still. He'll get over it." He walked on ahead, only slowing as he waited for Sora to catch up.

"I hope so," Sora said softly, giving a sigh as he caught up with him, exiting from the basement of the palace. It was time to head home and check up on Riku and Kairi. Course, he still didn't like the idea that he couldn't tell them about what had happened. Maybe he could take them both somewhere hidden and tell them. Yeah, that way no one would be around to hear them.

_All right! I'll see if I can get Riku and Kairi to sneak out tonight so I can tell them!

* * *

_

"Shit!" A loud explosion rocked the castle, causing smoke to billow out into the hallway as a certain door open and a man came out. His skin was singed here and there but nothing major was broken, which was a good thing considering he was the machinist of the Ansem kingdom. Or so he called himself that, saying he'd be making the greatest creation the world would ever know.

"What was that?" The man glanced up; squinting his eyes and staring down the hallway through the smoke, a piece of straw sticking out from between his lips. His yellow hair was now tinted with dark spots same as his clothes as he grumbled, dusting himself off and fanning some smoke away from his face.

"Just a small miscalculation, that's all."

"That was anything but small!" The prince frowned, coughing slightly and continuing to fan the smoke away from his face. "Cid, the whole palace felt that tremor. What in the world are you doing in there?"

"Crap! Better close the door behind some nosy bastards come along!" Cid turned starting to head back into the room, but glanced back when Riku didn't move to follow. "Hey, you coming or are you gonna stand out here looking stupid?"

"Uh? Oh um…yeah sure." Frowning, Riku followed the older male into the room, taking notice to Cid closing the door behind him and locking the door. Cid grumbled as he moved around the room, opening up windows that hadn't already been opened, most of the smoke finally starting to file out though there was enough to leave a bit of a haze and smell around the room. What on earth could he have been doing to cause this much trouble this time?

_Maybe I don't want to know._

"Well, at least I know that's not the solution," Cid said, walking over to the table and bending over something that looked like a rock that could barely fit in the palm of the hand. Muttering something, Cid took a long metal utensil and started poking and prodding at the thing on the table, almost completely oblivious that Riku was even in the room. But when Cid was onto something, he easily got into that kind of mood. Cid didn't let many into the room but the king, the prince, Sora, Kairi, and a few others as well. He said they didn't have an appreciation for what he considered art. Honestly, Riku did get pretty intrigue by the items he made, using the free time he couldn't spend with Sora to see what new things Cid had made. Of course, Merlin disagreed completely with the idea, but that was a different matter all together.

"What are you working on this time?" Riku asked, walking over to stand on the other side of the table to watch. Even that was probably too close for comfort, but hopefully Cid wouldn't have another issue to worry about.

"Pipe down a second, I'm almost done." Lowering his goggles back over his eyes, he started to work again, Riku backing away when sparks started to fly from Cid's work.

_This must be his free time work._

Yeah, Cid had this big job he was doing for the king, something that required not just his work but Merlin's as well. It needed a combination of the two of them to make it work, something Cid hadn't been happy about. He disagreed with Merlin's use of magic, saying that all things could be solved through science and hardcore machinery. Merlin went against that saying that technology of any time was an evil plague on the world and that it would one day turn against them all. Being one of the few magicians left in the world, it wasn't surprising that he felt at least a little intimidating by the knowledge of machines becoming something big.

"Alright, done!" Grinning like a fool, Cid closed up the little thing then turned it over before looking up at Riku. Riku blinked, meeting his eyes, then frowned wondering just how much trouble Cid was about to get them into. Yes…sometimes Cid's inventions worked out just fine…and sometimes it failed miserable.

"…And what does it do?"

"Just watch and see!" Cid pushed a button on the thing's back. It shook back and forth for a second before some four legs suddenly shot out from beneath it, a red lens popping open and looking around rapidly. It locked onto something and Riku turned his head to see what it was. Crawling along the wall was a small beetle, it's antennas wiggling slightly. Suddenly, a thin, red light shot free from the lens, hitting into the beetle and causing it to suddenly turn to dust. "Hot dog it worked!" Cid laughed, patting the back of the little mechanical thing as he gave Riku a thumbs up, the laser continuing to shoot around the room.  
"Ah…what exactly is it doing?" Riku asked, watching it warily as another beam shot out, just hitting above his head.

"It's a bug zapper!" Folding his arms and leaning back some; Cid definitely looked pretty cocky. "So I don't have to worry about all those damn critters sneaking into my lab all the time and interrupting me."

"And…this little thing…is what made the explosion earlier?" Riku said, pointing at the little thing and narrowing his eyes when it looked at him in return.

"Heck no!" Cid said, rubbing at his nose. "I was trying to make some toast when the damn thing backfired on me!" He pointed over to the corner, Riku looking to see Cid's other invention still smoking and looking like it was ready to catch on fire again. Leave it to Cid to just be able to make up anything. "Now I have to start on that airship idea the king wants done."

"Have you made any progress on it?" Riku asked, returning his attention to the other male.

"Nah, not since Mr. 'technology is polluting the world and you're going to cause us all to have an early death' decided to be a prick and rule out my idea that we add in some rocket powered busters to help get the thing moving faster." Cid muttered something else, patting at his pocket then sighing when he didn't find what he was looking forward, the straw in his mouth twisting around in frustration. "Besides that, we're still having complications with getting the damn thing to even go into the sky." Eying him, Cid pushed the straw to the other side of his mouth. "So what the heck brings you here? Your little boyfriend off training?"

_B-boyfriend?_

"Cid!"

"What?" Cid frowned, looking at him like he was frustrated…though most times he looked like that anyway. "He's a boy and he's your friend. What else would I be thinking? Unless there's something you're not telling me…." Lifting a brow, Cid gave him a look, causing Riku to look away. Why was he freaking out all of a sudden, just from that one little word? It wasn't like they were dating, or even allowed to date considering they were of the same gender. The matter was even worse considering that there was no telling what status Sora had and the fact that Sora wasn't physically able to bear him children in the first place.

_Why am I thinking about this? It's not like I want him…in that way._

Quickly moving his thoughts to other things, Riku turned his head looking up at Cid, finding the other already tinkering around with something else he'd found lying around the room. "Sora's gone out for a while," Riku said, not giving too much more information than that.

"Oh, so the kid's gotten his first mission, eh?" Cid glanced up at him before returning to the task in front of him, Bug Zapper walking around on the table, actually looking like a cute little pet or something, to the point that Riku mentally called it BZ. "I won't ask what the mission is. It's none of my business." When BZ was just about to fall off the table, Cid grumbled and caught it easily, putting it back up onto the table. "Damn thing's still got some malfunctions. Anyway, feel free to stick around if yas feeling a little bored."

"Actually," Riku said, starting for the door already, "Sora should be heading back soon." Frowning, Riku paused at the door, turning and looking back at Cid, noting the other still busy at his toys. "Hey…do you think you could…um…." When Cid looked up at him, confusion crossing his face, Riku quickly shook his head and opened the door to the little room. "Nothing, never mind." He left the room, closing the door beside him yet mentally beating himself. He needed to stop worrying over what had happened earlier. Everything would be ok. Something told him those two guys wouldn't kill him flat out, especially in the middle of a town where people could probably be watching. Heck, it was a wonder they didn't get in trouble for sneaking out last night though telling on the prince probably wouldn't be a wise move.

Blowing out air, he started walking, heading back to his bedroom to look out the window. He'd just sit there and wait until he saw the other coming. The thought of once again being able to be so close to his friend against made him slow down his walking slightly. Why was he getting so excited by just that little idea? Well they had been the best of friends since they were kids...that had to be the reason. There couldn't be more reason than that, right?

* * *

"Hey, welcome back." 

"Riku!" Smiling happily, Sora practically jumped him, hugging Riku to him tightly, expressing his happiness at seeing him both verbally and physically. He was acting like he'd been gone for years and was just now seeing the other boy. Riku's reaction wasn't completely all that different, though he seemed calmer about it, just hugging Sora close to him. The vibrant life in his eyes seemed to say enough for them all though, or at least it was enough for Sora who finally let him go before actually looking around to notice that some others had come to greet him as well.

"Kairi! Tidus! Selphie!" The three named looked at each other then suddenly started laughing, Sora's face twisting in confusion. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"The fact that Riku gets your attention before the rest of us, even Kairi," Tidus said, gesturing to the group of them before he folded his arms over his chest. "You'd think the two of you were lovers by the way you're acting. You were only away for one day."

"Ah, r-right," Sora said, though he was blushing as he grinned at them rubbing behind his head. Riku seemed to be blushing also but smiled down at him, resting a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. It made Sora feel warm inside as he smiled back at him.

"It hasn't been any fun playing tag without you," Kairi said, giving her own version of a pout as she came over and stood in front of him, grinning. "Sooo…did you have any adventures?" She poked him in his chest, causing Sora to blink and look down at the finger.

"Well…" he frowned, trying to think of what to say. It wasn't like he was allowed to tell the truth, not with Mr. 'tell the truth and die' on his case. "T-that is…um…."

"It was an average patrol," Leon said stepping up to stand behind Sora, looking at the kids. "Not that it was any of your business to begin with."

"Ah, geez!" Tidus said, just noticing that Leon was there.

Leon gave him a lean look as he rested his hand on his hip. "Do I need to find you something to do?"

"Nope! Not a thing!" Tidus turned away quickly, waving over his shoulder as he started to run away. "I'll see guys later, ok?" Yeah, Tidus was in the same class as Sora for training. Which meant he got stuck doing work too if he wasn't training or doing something progressive. But soon, both of them would become soldiers in the army. And soon it'd be harder to see to Riku.

"I better go too," Selphie said, sticking her tongue out slightly knowing that with Leon around, they couldn't talk about anything. "I said I'd be helping Aeris out with gathering some herbs." She turned leaving quickly, leaving only the two princes and Kairi to stay behind with the easily frustrated commander. Kairi looked like she wanted to leave but Riku seemed to be standing his ground.

Sora saw the frown on Riku's face and frowned, knowing that somehow the other knew something was wrong. Riku always seemed to know stuff like that…and usually he'd be able to easily pry the information out of him. But just like how Riku could read Sora when something was wrong…Sora could see signs in Riku. The other was moving a little more than usual, shifting his weight from one foot to the other occasionally. He was giving Leon this look that said he wouldn't back down, that he had some business with Sora and he wasn't about to let anyone stop him. But also when something was wrong, Riku's eyes would shift a little in color, becoming darker. What was bothering him? Did something happen while he was gone?

"Come on," Leon said, grabbing hold of Sora's shoulder and steering him in the direction of the king's courtroom, Cloud and Yuffie being seen standing by the door and waiting on him. "You still have to make your report to the king."

"Ah," Sora said sadly as he nodded looking down at the ground. "I forgot…." He glanced back at Riku, the other glaring at the back of Leon's head before he noticed Sora looking at him, the look softened. Sometimes, Riku and Leon didn't seem to get along well. Riku wanted to have freedom to do what he wanted where as Leon said that to have order was to have rules and control. But somehow, Riku was always the best when he came to train with Leon. It might have had to do with the two of them always challenging each other…or with Riku wanting to best Leon in something…though it never actually happened. Still, watching them fight always made Sora feel a little jealous. How was it that they were so good at it and he was still such a beginner?

"Sora!" Sora's eyes focused again, finding that Riku was looking at him, having just finished calling out his name. "I'll be waiting in my room for you so hurry there when you're done." Smiling softly, Sora nodded his head and watched as both Riku and Kairi turned and walked off.

"That prince can be nothing but trouble," Leon said as he stopped in front of the group by the door.

"What'd you expect?" Yuffie said though she was grinning like a fool. "He got his attitude from his dad. You should know that."

"Doesn't change the fact still," Leon answered, giving her a little glare before he turned that glare on Sora. "If you tell him anything about what happened, I'll make sure you have to do more work than just laundry."

"Ok ok!" Sora said quickly, huffing as he pulled his arm free. "I get the point. Don't say a word." He was getting frustrated himself, though it was more from having to keep all of this a secret from his two best friends. So, there were assassins after him. It wasn't like they'd be able to get into the palace without being noticed. And if they did appear, the best soldiers in the world would take them out!

"Right," Cloud said, looking at Sora before he opened the door. "Let's go in. We've got a lot of explaining to do to King Ansem."

TBC…

Yay! I made another chapter! Sorry for the long update, but I had to go somewhere over the weekend. I tried to finish it up before the weekend but…and then…and stuff…so like…yeah, that didn't happen.


	5. Princely Garbs 05

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Part 5 is here! Um…well else can I say:blinks: That's all. Read on!

Princely Garbs 5

"He's hiding something," Riku said, a frown marring his face as he drew carelessly on the piece of paper in front of him.

"Hm?" Kairi glanced over at him from where they were sitting on her bed, noticing that her cousin seemed to be preoccupied, probably with Sora. She didn't blame him considering that she was also thinking about the boy with the spiky hair. Sora looked like he had wanted to say something, course Leon had to ruin it all. Still, maybe it wasn't their business to know what was going on. But by the looks of Riku's agitation, he must have felt like it was their business.

"Something happened out there that they don't want us to know," Riku answered as he looked over at her, pen held tightly in his hand. "And I'm going to get the answer."

"Riku…"

"I want you to cover for us when we go," Riku said, standing from the bed as he started for the door. "We're going to sneak out to see what those guys want…maybe then Sora will agree to tell me what's going on."

"Riku, you can't!" Kairi squeaked as she jumped up from the bed quickly. The other looked back at her, his eyes shining with determination, a look that said he wasn't about to change his mind.

"I have to." Riku held a hand in a fist as he looked down at it, watching the limb trembling. "I have to know what happened that they don't want even me, the future king, to know about." He flexed the hand slightly before placing it on the doorknob and turning it, his hair blocking his eyes from Kairi's view. Riku was really being bothered by this...more than she would have thought possible. But then she remembered that Riku and Sora never kept secrets from each other. It almost made her feel jealous to know that the two of them were more connected with each other than with her. "And to keep you and Sora safe, we have to go to that meeting." He opened the door and started to step out before Kairi stopped him again.

"Riku, wait!" She held her hand out to him, almost like she was hoping that would be enough to stop him.

"Don't worry," Riku said suddenly turning around to look at her, an unreadable look in his eyes. "I'll protect Sora no matter what."

"I…" A frowned appeared to her lips but she nodded slowly, letting her hand lower. "Just…be careful too, ok? I don't want anything to happen to you guys." Riku nodded his head before he turned and left, probably heading back to his room to wait on Sora. With a sigh, Kairi flopped back down onto the bed, her eyes staring towards the floor. Riku…she almost knew that he had the same feelings for Sora that she did. The way his eyes lit up at the presence of the spiky head boy, the way she was certain hers did. But Sora was still oblivious to that other side…didn't know how dead Riku could seem when the other wasn't around. Sure, he was a lot better than he used to be…but what would happen if Sora disappeared…or died? How Riku react? How would she react?

_I don't want to think about that!_

She stood up quickly, a determined look set on her face. No, she wasn't about to just sit around and let Riku and Sora face the danger by themselves. She was going to help them somehow, she had to! Because, there was no way she was going to be left behind to worry!

* * *

"Before we begin, we should take this to a more…private area." King Ansem looked at the four members standing in attention in front of him. At a wave of his hand, they all relaxed, following the man as he stepped behind his throne moving towards a door at the back. He opened the door and waited for everyone to file in before closing it again and locking it. The door lit up for a brief second before it stopped and Ansem turned around looking at them. "You can relax while you are in this room. It is guarded by magic that will prevent outside ears from hearing." He walked over to the table at the center of the room, gesturing for the others there to sit before he sat down as well. "What do you have to report?" 

"The door reacted just as expected," Cloud said, ignoring the looks from the others as he continued. "The prince of Kingdom Hearts now has possession of the keyblade."

"Cloud," Leon hissed with warning, but Ansem held up a hand to stop him.

"So it seems you were right about him being the missing prince of that land," Ansem said, glancing over at Sora noticing the other staring at him in shock and confusion.

"Hey, how do you know about the prince?" Yuffie asked, as she slid up to sit on the edge of her chair, wanting to hear this story.

"I heard it from Cloud, of course," Ansem said, giving a little chuckle as he felt like he was telling a story to a bunch of children. In all honestly, they were all children…though of varying ages. Leon didn't look too happy about the whole thing, probably just realizing now that Cloud and the king both had kept this a secret from him. If nothing else, that would definitely spark some sort of reactions in him. "Cloud was, after all, the Commander of the Kingdom Hearts army."

"Cloud was a commander?" Sora said, mouth gaping open as he stared over at Cloud.

"So that's why he can kick Leon's tail so easily," Yuffie snickered then coughed when she felt Leon's glare on her.

"You think I'd just let anyone be my second in command?" Ansem asked jokingly. "Cloud's been to the castle a few times in the past." He looked at Leon. "Which is why you thought Sora's necklace looked familiar. That is the symbol of kingdom hearts…the royal crest, mind."

"Did you know my mom and dad?" Sora asked, sliding up in his chair just like Yuffie was. Leon was sitting between them but he rolled his eyes at his two childish charges.

"Afraid not," Ansem said with a frown. "Not many had ever seen the king or queen outside of the castle…maybe that was for the best. They alone could keep the darkness from invading the palace. In fact, their power was so great they could keep the darkness from the surrounding kingdoms as well. That was definitely a big help to us."

"The darkness?" Sora asked, now even more confused then when he had started out. "You mean like night time darkness?"

"No, not that kind of darkness." Ansem shook his head as he pushed himself up from the seat, resting his hands behind his back. "This particular kind of darkness…has the power to create some of the most vile creatures known to man. I'm sure you haven't seen any before, being that this was your first time out of the palace."

"Yeah," Sora said, shaking his head from the thoughts of his time sneaking out with Riku. But that did remind him of something else. "Hey, since this room prevents eavesdropping, can't I bring Riku here to tell him?"

"No," Ansem said just as soon as the question was out.

"But why not?" Sora felt a pout lifting to his lips, but didn't care, upset now. Why the heck was everyone so paranoid about telling Riku? He glanced to the side and noticed Leon frowning at him with disapproval. It wasn't like it hurt to ask anyway….

"Riku is to marry the lady Namine and become king, as is his birthright," Ansem said as he stopped in front of a window, staring out. "His destiny should not be mixed with yours…. You have a duty to stop the darkness and reclaim your kingdom. Riku has a duty to rule his country. If you were to tell him about this, he would easily shun his duties for the sake of going out on adventures and would neglect his rulings as a king causing the kingdom to fall ruins."

"But you don't know that!" Sora said, slamming his hands down on the table as he pushed to his feet, glaring at Ansem's back, not caring that the others were looking at him in surprise at his outburst. "If these creatures and the darkness are as bad as you say, then it would be his duty as a king to eliminate it in order to protect his kingdom!"

"That's not all that I am worried about," Ansem said as he glanced at Sora, noticing the other's frustration, "but I'll think about it after Riku's been wedded off."

"Yeah, about that," Sora said, though his eyes seemed to calm down a lot as he looked down at the table, not sure why he felt sad suddenly. "Does he really have to marry this lady? He doesn't even know her!"

"If you were a woman, I would have let you marry him," Ansem said, returning his eyes to the window. "But you're not a woman, you can't bare his children or give him the nurturing that he needs."

…_What does he mean by that? I-It's not like I wanted Riku like that anyway, right? I'm…n-not in love with him like that…I can't be…_

"I see, I guess," Sora said as he stretched his arms above his head, trying to play it off. It didn't help the slight pain in his chest at the thought of Riku getting married. Who came up with these stupid rules anyway?

"For the time being," Ansem said turning once again to face them all. "I want you all to continue to stay in the castle, until further notice. The prince known as Sora will continue to stay under the guise of a soldier, to further protect him. Should questions be asked about the mission, you are to say that everything was clear and nothing of the importance happened. This conversation is not to leave this room and under no circumstances are Riku and Kairi allowed to know about this." He looked at Sora after he said those words, noticing the heated look the other seemed to be giving him. "Am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" The four members stood up, saluting him as he turned and started for the door.

"Good. Dismissed."

* * *

Riku sat impatiently on his bed, looking towards his closed door occasionally as he waited for Sora to come. What was he doing? What exactly were they talking about for this to take so long? He glanced down at the two black cloaks on the bed beside him, smiling slightly as he gently brushed his fingers over the smallest one. Thinking about Sora always made him calm…. Why did the other effect him so much even when he wasn't around? He remembered how Aerith said he'd taken to Sora pretty quickly. And ever sense then, he'd always stood by him, watching over him protectively and pushing him away from danger. 

But now, the danger was closer this time…and Riku could only hope he could protect Sora …with his life if he had too. He owed the other that much if not more for awakening him from his inner self. What was it that made Sora special…compared to everyone else? What was it that made Riku's heart throb just a little faster when the other was around, talking to him, giving him that big grin after saying something funny or when he was up to no good.

_I'm not sure…but I wouldn't give it up, even if I had a choice._

"Hey, Riku?" A knock came at the door as the voice spoke again. "You in there?"

"Yeah," Riku said, almost feeling his happiness swelling inside as he stood from the bed. "Come on in. The door's unlocked." The door was pushed opened and the spiky headed soldier peered inside glancing around before he gave a little grin…though the look in his eyes said he wasn't happy in the least. What happened to make Sora upset?

"You ok?"

Sora nodded his head quickly, forcing his smile to be bigger as he closed the door behind him, giving a sigh before he turned around, the smile disappearing. "What'd cha want to talk to me about?" Suddenly, Sora's eyes seemed to take sight of the twin cloaks on the bed and he frowned, giving Riku a look. "What are you planning this time?"

"We're sneaking out again," Riku said, looking away from the admonishing look. It wasn't like he had a choice to sneak out this time. "And don't argue about it. I really can't explain my reasons this time until we're away from the palace." He glanced over at Sora, noticing the other's suspicious look before he nodded his head slowly and walked over to the bed, picking up the smaller of the cloaks.

"If it's about what happened today, you know I can't tell you," Sora said slowly, as he glanced over at Riku before putting his cloak on.

"Well it's about that too," Riku said, frowning as the other refused to look at him. "But there's something else we have to do first." He slipped his cloak on as well, pulling the hood up as he looked over seeing Sora looking at him again, though the confusion was in his eyes now. "It's something I can't explain while we're here…." Sora seemed to nod in understanding.

"Then let's go," Sora said, giving him a little smile as he walked over to the window and pushing it open. "You probably just want to spar again so I can beat your butt this time."

"Eh…" Riku felt his face heat up slightly, his mind thinking a completely different thing before he had to shake the thought away. "Not exactly," he said only to find that Sora had already jumped down. Giving a sigh, Riku jumped down following Sora's example and was quick to run off, Sora giving a little sound of protest as he gave chase. Once again, they made it out easily enough and Riku slowed down, glancing over at Sora who seemed quiet. Stopping quickly, Riku reached out a hand grabbing hold of Sora's arm jolting the other from his thoughts.

"Eh…what's up?" Sora said.

"What we're getting ready to do might be dangerous," Riku started up, seeing the look on Sora's face melting to one of disapproval. "Kairi and I had a little…run in earlier with some mysterious guys."

"When?" Sora asked quickly, taking hold of Riku's hand in both of his as he stared at him worriedly.

"While you were gone," Riku continued, his hand unconsciously squeezing the other's gently, not wanting them to ever let go. "Two men made it into my room…without even the guards knowing about it. If we don't meet them tonight at the water fountain…they might kill Kairi…and you too."

Sora frowned, staring into Riku's eyes like he was trying to read something. The stare was enough to make Riku look away, his heart beating even faster now. How could Sora effect him so easily when he wasn't even a girl? "And what about you?"

"They might kill me too," Riku said with a frown.

"I thought so," Sora said before he pulled his hands free and pushed his sleeves up like he was about to go take care of some business. "Alright then, let's go take care of these suckers!" Riku stared at him, and couldn't help smiling as he nodded his head.

"Alright then. We can do this together." He grabbed hold of Sora's hand as he started to lead him, taking him to the water fountain. "But I hope you know, I don't plan on letting you get hurt."

"That's ok," Sora said, following behind him not noticing the blush on Riku's face. "I'm not planning on letting you get hurt either. Like I said before, I'll protect both you and Kairi."

* * *

"Looks like they made it," Axel said from his spot beside Roxas. He glanced to the side, looking down at his little partner and frowned when the other didn't make a move to say anything. Sometimes Roxas seemed to zone out into another world, something that always made Axel worry. And when he started to worry, he would end up questioning himself and wondering why he cared at all, considering that he was an assassin. But this time, Roxas's eyes were focused on the two males heading their way. His hands were clenched at his sides; eyes narrowing to glare straight at Sora as the other came closer. 

_I guess I could understand him being angry, but why at Sora? It wasn't like it was his fault that it happened._

Axel knew the story behind Roxas, but then again, so did many of the other Organization members. That was a main reason for why Roxas was the way he was, considering that a few of the members were good on teasing him about his misfortune. And of course, the only one that cared about him was Axel…and maybe Demyx.

_Course he can be just as annoying as the rest of them._

"Ok, we're here," Riku said as he stopped in front of the two of them, his little friend standing quietly beside him. Axel couldn't help grinning as he stared at Sora, noting the other looking back at him. Man, the resemblance was uncanny. Though not exactly the same, they were still somewhat similar. "Now what is it that you wanted?"

_Quick to get straight to the point, I see. Not bad, kid._

"I wouldn't say we want much," Axel said, grinning as he rested a hand on Roxas's shoulder. He noticed the look passing over Riku's face when the other looked at Roxas. He was seeing the resemblance too. "Trust me, we came in peace this time."

"Why should we trust you?" Sora yelled out, glaring at both of them. "You tried to hurt my friends! I can't forgive you for that!"

"Well you stole my life," Roxas returned as he glared at Sora, looking like he was ready to run over and beat the hell out of him.

"How could I steal your life!" Sora got into a more defensive position, but looked ready to fight if the other started anything. "I don't even know you!" Riku seemed calm beside him but Axel knew. The other was ready to fight in an instance.

_He'd make a good Organization member…I better keep an eye on him._

"Hey hey, what's with all the hostility?" Axel shrugged his shoulders as he moved up coming to stand between the two boys. He didn't mind seeing the two of them fighting but really, the last thing he needed was for Him to find out what had happened. Heck, it was bad enough that he even allowed Roxas to come out here to meet the boy at all.

_Great, he'll probably have my hide for this if he finds out. _

"Make love, not war," Axel said as he stepped aside and grabbed both of the boy's hands, pressing them together. "After all…you guys have the same blood running through your veins." True, he wasn't supposed to be speaking about this. But, what fun was it to always end up following rules? Especially for a guy you didn't even like.

"The same blood?" Confusion came across Sora's face as he stared up at Axel. Suddenly, he let his eyes fall on Roxas whose eyes were looking back at him, though more with anger than with confusion.

"Yeah…that's right, the same blood," Roxas said, pulling his hand away roughly as he turned his back to them. "We're…brothers."

"Eh…what?" Sora just let his hand hover there, still looking shocked before he narrowed his eyes throwing the hand behind him. "You're lying!"

"Nope," Axel said, resting a hand on top of Sora's head despite the angry look Riku was directing towards him. Ooh, that was jealous boy there. "You're brothers alright. Twin brothers to be exact."

"That can't be. Everyone that knew me back then is dead, including my family," Sora said frowning, not even noticing the look Riku was passing him. Well then…there seemed to be some secrets being kept away.

"Don't trust him, Sora," Riku said, glaring at Axel as he got into a fighting position. Of course, Axel just chuckled watching them. If they were planning to fight, they were going to get no where without any weapons to speak of.

_Course we should be careful. If I'm right, Sora has the keyblade. Last thing I want is to be chopped in half by that thing._

"Well, then you still have one living family member. And he's standing right in front of you." He pulled his hand away, noticing the mixture of emotions crossing Sora's face ranging from suspicion to confusion to anxiousness and even worry. "You're probably wondering how, right?"

"Abandonment," Roxas said quickly as he turned glaring at Sora. "I was tossed away like trash while you got kept as the special child! Apparently, our parents didn't want me," he continued, pinning the other with his glare as he moved closer. "They left me in the forest to be eaten by wolves." He clenched his hands at his sides, glaring down at the ground almost like he was trying to contain his emotions. "If…if it hadn't been for Him I…."

"Him?"

"Sora, what the heck are you doing out here so late?"

Sora and Riku turned around at the voice, not even noticing when Axel grabbed Roxas and quickly disappeared. This was as good a time as any. He glanced down at Roxas in his arms, noticing how the other seemed out of it, his eyes almost dazed over. What was he thinking about right now?

_Maybe this was a little too much for him._

He got back to Roxas's room and had just laid him down in his bed before a voice from behind spoke.

"Where have you been?" the voice said, though Axel didn't turn around to see, knowing who it was already.

"Out," Axel said before he grinned, turning around to look at the guy. "Or is it a problem now for us to go out and have some fun?"

"I have no problem with you going out," the man said, stepping inside the room, giving a little smirk as he brushed at his shoulder length hair. "I just think you should be careful what you're doing, considering that there are watchful eyes everywhere."

"Like yours, Marluxia?"

"Yes. Like mine." He closed the door behind him then leaned against it as he let his eyes land on Axel once again. "You're up to something."

"And what makes you think I'm up to something?" Axel asked, finally pulling the blanket over Roxas before he sat down on the end of the bed. It was safe to say that Roxas was sleeping considering the slow rise and fall of his chest as well as the closed eyes. And that was probably a good thing considering that one of the people Roxas least liked was Marluxia.

"Oh, maybe the fact that you've been sneaking around for the last couple of days…and sneaking off on secret meetings with the enemy." Marluxia let his smirk widen, actually looking a little cocky as he pushed from the door. "It's almost like you're trying to…join the other side. What kind of information have you been telling them?"

"I'd say that's none of your business," Axel said, crossing his legs and leaning back on the bed looking calm and cool though inside was a different story. He was really pissed off at Marluxia and felt that maybe he could have done more to prevent this nosy member from following him around. Honestly, if Marluxia could find any way of getting rid of Axel he would. The two of them were well…not on the best of terms, had never been really.

Even though Marluxia was basically a new member to the group, he thought he knew everything. A lot of the older members didn't like the guy either, but since their main leader didn't voice any complaints, no one said anything against it. But it'd be only a matter of time before the tides would turn against Marluxia.

_I'll make sure of that._

"You're right," Marluxia said as he nodded his head. "It isn't any of my business what you do in your spare time. Whether it's bringing the Organization to ruins or having your way with young Roxas there, none of it is my business."

"You're starting to piss me off," Axel said as he stood to his feet, glaring at him feeling his hands growing hot as fire burst to life in one of his hands.

"Ooh well I wouldn't want to do that, would I?" Laughing, Marluxia turned around and opened the door leaving the room and the angry Axel behind. With a sigh, the fire disappeared from Axel's hand as he sank back down on the bed, glancing over at the sleeping Roxas. Marluxia could definitely work a person's nerve to straining point, but he wasn't like that with everyone…most of them….a few of them. Ok, so there were probably a select one or two he people he was actually friends with.

_Kind of like me. _

Actually, Saix didn't look like he'd be such a bad guy if it weren't for the stick shoved up his ass. Heck, the guy was about as entertaining as watching furniture collect dust. Zexion was interesting though so antisocial that talking to him was pretty much a no go. Demyx…well Demyx just didn't know how to shut up. But sometimes that had some very interesting results. Let's see…there was also Larxene…she was just about as annoying as Marluxia. The thought of it made Axel shudder. She was also pretty feisty when angry, something poor Axel had been a victim of quite a few times. Then there was Luxord…whom Axel avoided visiting as much as possible considering that he always lost a ton of money any time he went to see the guy.

Oh, Lexaus was pretty interesting too. The guy was so strong he could pick up a ton of bricks without even sweating. Sure, they say working out makes a body strong but that's extreme! Like Axel was one to talk with his fire abilities…though setting Demyx's clothes on fire was fun.

_I have to admit, watching Demyx dancing around trying to put the fire out before remembering his powers could entertain me for hours._

Then there was Xigbar…the guy thought he was sooo cool with his one eye patch. Hell, if Axel wanted to he could put an eye patch over his eye too and call it a day. It wasn't going to make the women run any faster to him. Well…not that Axel even liked women…his eyes were set up on one person…who was so oblivious it hurt his head. Speaking of not into women…Axel was really beginning to think that maybe Vexen was a little on the gay side.

_Or at least I think he is. I know Lexaus is cool and all but do you really need to watch him work out everyday?_

Let's see…there were two more members he didn't mention…. Xaldin, the guy that Axel preferred to call one with the wolves because of his long side burns. Who knows, maybe he came from a very cold region or something.

Actually, Axel didn't really know much about the guy, having barely spoken to him before. Oh, and let's not forget the great and powerful…annoying, leader of the Organization. Xemnas…the man with the over dramatic, long, boring speech. Sure, it's great he had important things to tell everyone, but he could really make it a lot shorter than it was. It was so boring in fact that Roxas tended to be one of the first one's to fall asleep…or leave. Not that Axel complained, enjoying the head on his shoulder or the fact that Roxas's ass did shake inside that black robe of his.

_Yep, I may just have a Roxas fetish. _

All in all, that made thirteen members in their little organization. And he didn't have a clue how old any of them were besides Roxas.

_Hell, how old am I now, anyway? Hm…._

Standing from the bed, Axel stretched his arms above his head, giving a little yawn before he headed for the door. He might as well get himself some sleep as well and prepare himself for tomorrow. There was no telling what the Organization was going to do, now that the keyblade master had his keyblade. He wasn't even all that sure why they hadn't just killed him…or why they didn't tell Roxas that he had the ability too. But he was sure Roxas probably knew…he just hadn't awakened it yet.

* * *

"Sora, what the heck are you doing out here so late?" 

"Tidus?" Sora blinked in confusion, watching the other come walking up to him before noticing that Kairi was beside him. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Hey hey, I asked first," Tidus said chuckling as he patted Sora on the back almost knocking him over. "Are you guys going out on secret dates or something."

"I-it's not like that!" Sora said, though he knew his cheeks were red from blushing. Luckily, it was night so no one would notice it. "W-we were just…"

"They're gone," Riku said suddenly causing everyone to turn towards him in confusion.

"Who's gone?" Tidus asked quietly.

"Ah, when did they leave!" Sora asked, glancing around quickly but finding no trace of the red headed man or his friend whom he called Sora's brother. But how could Sora have a brother? It can't be true or else Cloud would have told him.

_I have to ask him! _

"Sora," Riku said the name, shaking Sora's shoulder to get the other's attention. "What did you mean by everyone who's ever knew you being dead? Is this what you found out at that place?"

_Oh crap…._

"Riku…." Sora looked up at him, wanting so badly to tell him everything yet remembering Ansem's warning. Yes, Sora wanted Riku to know everything…but was it really right for him to pull his friend into that sort of danger? But at the same time, was it good for Riku to be completely oblivious? What if something else happened? With if these Organization people started to try and hurt Riku because of Sora?

_Maybe I shouldn't stay in this castle any longer…. _

He didn't want this place to become like Kingdom Hearts. He didn't want it to be his fault again because he wasn't capable of defending it. He didn't want everyone to die because of him.

"Sora, tell me." Riku held Sora by both shoulders staring down into his eyes with insistence as well as worry. He was making Riku worry about him. So why couldn't he just tell him and get it off his chest?

"I…I can't," Sora said quickly, looking down so that he didn't have to look into the other's eyes. "I…at least not yet, I can't tell you."

"I see." Riku frowned but relented as he pulled his hands away and turned walking away, heading towards the palace. "Then I won't bother you anymore about it. After all, it's your choice whether you want to say anything or not."

"Ah, Riku," Sora looked up quickly and held a hand out towards Riku, watching as the other walked away. Riku walking away actually hurt him. "Riku, I'm sorry!"

Tidus gave a little sigh, resting a hand on his hips and lifting his other hand into the air. "And once again, we're left in the dust. I don't have a clue what's going on." Kairi nodded her head in agreement before she walked over to stand beside Sora.

"Don't worry," Kairi said, turning her head and smiling at him. "He's just being a big baby. Once he thinks about how he's acting, he'll snap out of it."

"Yeah," Sora said though he didn't sound like he believed it. "I hope so. I'm…really sorry I'm keeping so many secrets from you guys."

"Hey, who says that secrets always have to be shared?" Tidus asked, coming to stand beside Sora as he rested his hands behind his head. "They're secrets for a reason, you know."

Kairi giggled slightly. "You're starting to sound like Raijin, Tidus."

"Aww man, really?" Tidus frowned and gave a roll of his eyes. "Man, it sucks having to follow Seifer around, stupid learn from your superiors day. And you know how it is, Raijin and Fujin follow him everywhere and back him up in every way. Man, I hate that guy!"

"You and me both," Sora said giving him a little grin, feeling a little better now. At least he wasn't the only one being tortured by Seifer. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Cloud for a little bit…so maybe I'll see you guys tomorrow, ok?"

"Ah…alright," Tidus said, giving him thumbs up. "Be careful though."

"Hm?" Sora blinked in confusion as he looked at him. "Why? What's wrong?"

"While we were getting ready to head out, we saw Cloud going to Leon's room," Kairi said giving a little giggle at that and brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Which means you'll have to see Leon to get to Cloud."

"Which means Leon might end up finding you some work to do," Tidus added, before he gave a mock glare and rested his hand on his hip trying to mimic Leon. "Since you have nothing else do to with your time, then you can go clean every room in the palace, including the walls."

"Aww man, that job sucks the most," Sora said resting his hands behind his head. "Especially going into Cid's room. He has so much junk around it takes forever to get it all out. Not to mention how much black stuff is on the walls because he's always blowing up his projects."

"It's even worse when he's throwing the trash on the floor while you're cleaning it," Tidus said with an exaggerated sigh. "I swear he's trying to kill me." They started walking back towards the palace together, talking and laughing about the tormentor that was Leon. As they got close, Sora found his eyes glancing towards Riku's window, finding the other standing there staring out at him. They kept walking, but Sora didn't say much more in the conversation as he continued to stare up at Riku, feeling a beating his chest from his heart. Why was it that Riku seemed the only one to make him feel so…strange?

Giving a shy little smile, Sora lifted a hand waving up at Riku. The other smirked in return and waved back before he turned leaving his window and cutting out the light. At least he wasn't mad anymore. But Sora got the feeling that Riku wasn't about to let this die. He was going to keep pestering the other until he finally got answers.

_I hope I have the willpower to keep it up._

"See?" Kairi said, smiling beside him. "I told you Riku wasn't going to stay mad."

"I-I guess you're right," Sora said smiling back happily. He felt lips on his suddenly and found Kairi kissing him once again before she giggled pushing hair behind her ear and smiled at him, almost as if she could see his blushing.

"Good night, Sora," She said as she ran to the door, only stopping to wave at him before she went on in. And that…would be his second kiss by Kairi, meaning he'd had three kisses in all, including the one Riku gave him.

"Whoa, you are so lucky!" Tidus said hitting him hard in the back again. "Then again, I knew it wouldn't be long before you and Kairi hooked up. It works out well really." He ran to the door, and smiled as he winked back at him. "I can't wait to tell the others about this."

"No, wait!" But he was already gone inside, leaving Sora standing there for the second time today with his arm held out. "Geez, will anyone just sit still and let me finish?" He sighed and shook his head. Well, he had more important things to do right now…like getting some answers out of Cloud. If he did have a brother, Cloud would know about it.

_If I do have a brother…would Cloud even tell me?_


	6. Princely Garbs 06

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Yay :made some KH amv's on youtube: But that's besides the point! I finally updated! Course, took me a while to get out on paper…er…computer what I wanted to happen, despite that it was baking in the back of my head. Also going to my first convention! I'm going as Organization Riku, wish me luck.

Princely Garbs 6

"I hope you're ready for tonight," Xenmas said, standing in Axel's room and staring at the other sitting on the bed.

"Oh suuuure," Axel drawled as he smirked, letting his sarcasm bake in. "Yeah, I've been dreaming of this for what…several years now?"

"Even though I feel nothing," Xenmas said, not moving to enter the other's room, "your sarcasm amuses me."

"Well I'm glad I can make even you giggle inwardly at a joke." Axel was quiet for a moment then gave a sigh as he noticed the other didn't make a move to leave. "What are you planning on having me do?"

"It's a simple mission," Xenmas said stepping into his room, and glancing around as though this was his first time inside, which was definitely a lie. "I want you and Roxas to go see the keyblade master." He stopped beside Axel's desk, staring at the miniature figurine that sat there, the only personal object that Axel had. He didn't seem to notice the suspicious look he was being sent or the way Axel was watchfully staring at the little figurine. "I want Roxas to kill the keyblade master."

"Wait, what?" That got Axel's attention as he stood quickly from the bed in protest. "No way! Are you crazy! That's like suicide! There's no way he'll be a match against a keyblade master!"

"You can easily consider it a…distraction," Xenmas said softly, turning his head enough to look at Axel over his shoulder. "Do you think you can do it or is the darkness in your heart already fading away?" Noticing the unsure look in Axel's eyes, Xenmas turned around reaching out as if he was going to grab hold of him. "Does your heart need more darkness in order to carry out this mission?"

"N-no," Axel said quickly, eyes looking down as his taunt body suddenly relaxed at those words. He took a careful step back before sinking down on the bed again. "No…I can handle it. I don't need more darkness." Xenmas gave a nod, seemingly satisfied with that answer as he turned heading for the door.

"Good. Before you leave, prepare a space for a new member."

"Hm?" Axel looked up at that, confusion written on his face. Had he just heard what he thought he'd heard? Was there going to a fourteenth member? "Did you just say…a new member?"

"Yes," Xenmas replied, stopping right before he went out the door. "Another is coming to join us soon…though he doesn't know he will…yet." He left it at that, leaving from the room not even bothering to close the door behind him. After all, in this place where darkness reached everyone's heart, who cared for privacy?

…_Maybe the darkness really is fading in me.

* * *

_

"How long has he known?" Leon said, slipping a shirt on before he glanced over at Cloud standing by the door.

"Hm?" Opening his eyes, Cloud looked up at Leon noticing now that the other had a new shirt on. No wonder Leon always ended up with so much laundry, he looked like he changed three to four times a day…though the style of the outfits never varied much.

"The king," Leon answered him, finally turning his attention and his eyes to the blond across the room from him. "How long has the king known about this?"

_So he's still worried about that, is he?_

"Long enough," Cloud said, almost feeling a bit of satisfaction from the frustrated look on Leon's face. Maybe he was getting too much glee out of this but, he always did have fun messing with Leon, especially since the other felt like he had to know everything. Cloud was almost certain his slightly taller friend was probably just worried over the kingdom. Of course, Cloud was worried too. This wasn't exactly a force they should be messing with, the darkness. He'd seen what could happen, what it could do.

It could destroy, it could convert, it could do almost anything it wanted. And, sadly enough, the only weapon that can be used against it was light. But it wasn't just any light…just like this darkness wasn't just any darkness. The light needed was along the lines of hope, happiness, and love, things that were kept in people's hearts. But sometimes the light wasn't strong enough and the darkness was easily able to devour it, turning people to follow the darkness in their heart.

"That's not an answer," Leon said suddenly, bringing Cloud from his thoughts as the blond suddenly focused and noticed Leon standing right in front of him, glaring down at him. Exactly when did Leon manage to get so close?

_Damn it! I need to pay more attention._

"Sorry, I wasn't listening," Cloud said truthfully as he turned his head staring towards the wall. For some reason, lately, he'd been feeling a bit…strange around Leon. And if that wasn't bad enough, the feelings always got stronger the closer the other was to him. Most times he tried to stay away so the feelings wouldn't intensify. But sometimes Leon managed to break through his guard, just like he did now, and get close to Cloud. And during those times, he almost felt like breaking down and spilling everything.

"Why didn't you ever tell me any of this before?" Leon frowned, folding his arms over his chest. "Or at least told me something?"

"I told you," Cloud said giving a sigh and closing his eyes. "I couldn't say anything, not with unknown ears around. Even now, I still can't speak. The darkness can-"

A knock at the door stopped Cloud mid-sentence, both males glancing over at the door. Leon frowned and looked down at Cloud then at the door again, wanting to take care of one thing yet feeling obligated to take care of another. He was almost tempted to just ignore the door when a voice called through.

"Leon! Hey um…is Cloud in there? I have to ask him something."

"Yeah, I'm here," Cloud called out, ignoring the look on Leon's face as he slipped past him towards the door. Yep, Leon didn't liking this one bit, so said the twitching of his right eye. Cloud was definitely going to have to thank Sora later for helping him out.

He opened the door, staring down at the younger boy who was staring up at him. Sora gave him a slight smile. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Not at all," Cloud answered, not even glancing over at Leon, certain he had a scowl set to his face by now. "What did you need to ask me?"

Sora suddenly seemed to become very nervous as he looked down, tapping his fingers together. "Well…." Giving a little sigh, Sora folded his arms over his chest, a frown slipping to his lips as he looked up at Cloud again, almost looking like a miniature Leon who had the exactly same pose and look on his face. "It might seem out of the blue but…do I have a twin brother?"

_Where'd that come from?_

"Hm?" Cloud's eyes widened in surprise at that but he quickly covered up his tracks, frowning as he stared down at Sora. "Why would you ask th-"

"Enemy! The enemy is attacking!" The voice was coming from down the hallway before a soldier suddenly stopped behind Sora, panting heavily. "Sir!" He saluted Cloud quickly, despite still being out of breath. "Sir, unknown enemies are attacking the palace! They've already breached and are inside the palace!"

"What!" Leon pushed past Cloud and Sora, coming to standing out in the hallway, as he stared at the soldier in front of him. "That's not possible, how the hell did they get past our defenses?"

"Well um…" the soldier hesitated, frowning. "They just…appeared."

"Appeared?"

"Yes sir! They're just appearing from the ground, sir!"

"What did they look like?" Cloud asked suddenly, frowning himself. This was sounding too close to home, and he didn't like it. He noticed that Leon was giving him that look but he ignored it, desperate now for answers.

"Um…a couple had black hooded robes on. But the rest, they…."

"Nevermind, just take us to them." Leon turned to Sora and grabbed his shoulder pushing him inside the room.

"Hey," Sora shouted out but he didn't finish as Leon's glaring eyes landed on him.

"Stay inside, and don't leave this room, you hear me?" Leon said to him.

"W-wait, but…what about Riku? And Kairi?"

"Just follow your orders." Leon said.

"Don't worry," Cloud gave Sora a slight nod. "We'll take care of them. Just stay here…." He let his voice go down to a whisper as he continued with his next words. "We can't let the enemy find out where you are…so stay hidden." Without another word he closed the door. They could hear banging on the other side, the sound of Sora's protesting but they ignored it as Leon came up and locked the door from the other side. Cloud felt that it was his duty still to protect his prince…but it was also his duty to protect the prince of this kingdom as well. If nothing else, he'd feel safer if he knew where Sora was and that he was away from the immediate danger.

"Let's go," Leon said looking at him and he nodded his head in return, doing his best to ignore that tingling feeling inside. Even with all this chaos, he still felt it. Leon turned his eyes to the soldier nodding his head for the guy to lead the way. They were off then, running down the hallway to take care of the evil force trying to destroy their home.

_I won't let this place fall like Kingdom Hearts did.

* * *

_

Riku frowned, looking out his window, hearing the sounds of a battle. But he knew there was something wrong. This wasn't like any sparring he knew about. No, the screams of pain and the sound of dying changed that. Not to mention he was sensing something very…foreboding wandering around the palace. Something was here, something dark and sinister. Eyes narrowing, he noticed something running across the grass. It seemed human and yet it ran on all fours, body covered in a mist of darkness as it moved. At one point it stopped and looked around and Riku noticed its glowing yellow eyes.

_What is that?_

He refused to just stand around and do nothing. If he could get to the training yard, he might be able to find an extra sword to use to help in the fight against the unfamiliar monsters below. At least, he felt he had to try. Turning quickly with determination, Riku ran from the room heading down the quiet hallway. In fact, it was a little too quiet. There were no servants, no one running by him and screaming, nothing. It felt a little too…eerie for his taste. And speaking of taste, he was getting a really foul taste in his mouth right now. He couldn't figure out why, but somehow he felt like he was tasting evil itself. And it didn't taste good.

Eventually his feet brought him to the destination he was searching for, the training room. He saw a few swords lying on the floor by the wall and went over, grabbing two of them before he left the room. They weren't exactly the best of weapons but at least they were better than using a stupid wooden sword.

_Sora hold on, I'm coming._

Moving down the hallway, he stopped when he heard sounds coming from behind a closed door. Riku listened closely then felt himself calming down once he recognized the voice coming from behind the door, his ear pressing against it. "Sora? Sora, are you in there?"  
_Isn't this Leon's room?_

"Riku?" came the questioning voice from the door before it got louder. "Riku! You're ok!"

"Yeah," Riku said, a small smile lifting to his lips. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you? Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Sora said, the frown coming out through his voice before Riku heard the thud of a fist hitting against the door. "Stupid Leon locked me in. He told me to stay inside and not leave, stupid jerk."

"I see," Riku said then frowned glancing around the door. He knew Leon was the type not to leave an extra key around. "Hey, do me a favor and check out the window."

"Hm? Eh…sure ok," replied Sora's confused voice. It was quiet for a few seconds before he heard the voice returning to the door. "I don't see anything out there if that's what you wanted."

"So no black shadows?"

"Black shadows? No…Nothing that I can see from here, anyway." The voice quickly took on a pout as the fist started to pound on the door again. "Now can you please help me find a way out of this room! I'm bored out of my mind and it really really sucks!"

"Ok ok, keep your pants on." Again Riku stood back glancing around the door once more. He looked down at the two swords in his hands. "Ok, I think I've got an idea." He placed the tip of the sword in the crack of the door. "Ok, now start pushing as hard as you can."

"How is that going to get me out?" Sora yelled from the other side. "This door's like three times my weight!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Not that I even know what your plan is but...fine fine, I'll push."

"Good." Riku, after hearing Sora's grunting finally braced himself on the handle of the sword, pushing down trying to pry the door open. He heard the door start to creak in protest but besides that he didn't feel anything different happening. Still, he wasn't ready to call it quits yet. No, he wanted to see with his own eyes that Sora was ok.

* * *

They must have been at it for at least five minutes before Sora told him he couldn't do it anymore. "There has to be an easier way, Riku." Sora said, resting his forehead against the closed door tiredly. This was putting a bit of strain on him and frankly it was making him more than a little tired. Why oh why did Leon have to lock him in? If only he had something, a key maybe that could unlock it.

As if that was the magic word, the keyblade suddenly appeared in his hand, startling him and yet comforting him with its warmth. He stepped back holding the blade up as he looked at it. Why had it come now? How did it come? He didn't have Cloud there to answer the questions for him.

"Don't give up, Sora. We'll find a way to get you out!" Sora smiled softly, hearing the sincerity in his voice. As he opened his mouth to reply he noticed the keyblade glowing in his hands drawing his attention back to it. Before he could give out a sound of shock, a ray of light shot from the keyblade straight into the keyhole on the door. A very distinct click was heard before the lights from the keyblade disappeared leaving him staring at the door in shocked.

_No way! Did it just…no way!_

He tested it then, reaching out and grabbing the handle and turning it. With a gently push, the door opened and he found himself coming face to face with a shocked Riku, the keyblade vanishing from his hand.  
"You found a key?" Riku asked, stepping back as the door opened all the way.

"Not exactly." He noticed Riku was staring at him, frowning at him. At the look he turned his eyes away, looking at everything but Riku. "I…I can't tell you. I'm sorry. It's just that Leon-"

"I don't give a damn about what Leon said." Riku replied as he grabbed Sora's shoulders in his hands staring into his eyes. "If it has something to do with what's going on right now, I want to know. Does it have something to do with what happened out there on your mission?" Sora refused to speak and closed his eyes trying his hardest to ignore the frustration he felt growing in the older prince. He was ordered not to tell Riku about what happened, but mentally he was fighting with himself…saying that he should tell him, that they always told each other everything. "Tell me!" Riku yelled, his grip tightening on Sora's shoulders though not too much to cause major discomfort. "Did something happen out there? Is that why these creatures are here? Are you in danger!" He tightened his hold even more on Sora's shoulders, not noticing when Sora winced slightly feeling the nails digging into skin. This was really eating Riku up. "How…." The hold on him loosened up as the fight in Riku started to die out. "How…am I supposed to protect you if you won't even tell me what's wrong?"

_Riku…._

Sighing softly, Sora closed his eyes debating now with his decision. Telling Riku would only make Leon and Cloud made. But if these creatures were after Sora, then Riku had a right to know. If they were after Sora then there was no reason to keep it a secret any longer. The enemy already knew if Sora's existence though how as mysterious to him.

_I…I have to tell him…I can't keep this from him…I'm sorry Cloud…Leon…

* * *

_

"Stay on your guard," Leon said, placing his back to Cloud as he glared at the monsters.

"Same to you," Cloud returned, not even glancing back as he focused his attention on the monsters in front of them.

"Our top priority is still to the royal family and the king. Right now we have to find King Ansem and Prince Riku as well as Lady Kairi." A dark creature jumped at Leon and he quickly stepped back, slashing is gunblade in front of him, the monster's body dissipating into black smoke. "There are too many of these things."

"If things keep going like this, we'll be too tired to help the king," Leon said. Again another monster jumped towards him and he slashed through it, cursing as only more started to appear from the ground. They were being surrounded, like prey to wild animals. If they didn't do something and quick, they'd never make it to the king. The creatures started to close in on them, though there was no sound that came from them, as if sound did not exist for them…as if they absorbed all sound. "Whatever happens, stay close to me," Leon said, glancing over his shoulder at Cloud meeting the other's eyes.

Cloud gave a quick nod of his head, his hands tightening around his buster sword as he glare once more at the monsters in front of him. He wasn't planning on dying so easily, and chances were neither was Leon. Whatever Leon was planning, he hoped it was good. "Whatever you're planning, I'll follow your lead," Cloud said softly, his eyes closing for a second before he opened them slashing at another monster as it came close.

"Hm." Leon nodded his head then narrowed his eyes surveying their surrounding. "On the count of three, I want you to turn around and run, ok?"

"Yeah," Cloud said, not turning around as he kept attacking monsters that got close to him.

"One," Leon held up a hand pointing it towards the monsters in front of him, his gunblade being held in one hand at his side as a red fire suddenly burst to life in his palm, his dark eyes glowing with the feeling of magic flowing through his body. "Two." He felt the power gathering in his palm, the fire starting to grow hotter, bigger. "Three!" The fireball shot free from his hand hitting into the monsters in front of him just as Cloud turned and started running. Quick to follow, Leon ran after him, running through the now clear path that was set before him. As Cloud ran into the palace, Leon was right behind him, his gunblade held ready just in case they were to get attacked.

They made it into the hallway leading to the throne room before Leon took the lead again, running past Cloud and heading down the hallway. If he knew any better, then King Ansem was probably taking refuge in the private room in the throne room. After all, it was the only room that was sealed by magic and posed as a good barrier against the darker powers. He could only hope that Riku and Kairi were with him.

_Maybe we should have took Sora there also. _

"Cloud," Leon said, stopping in the clear hallway as he turned looking at the other noticing the question raising in his eyes. "I'm trusting you to go to the throne room and protect Riku, Kairi, and the King."

"What are you planning?" Cloud said, frowning as he held his buster sword at his side, apparently disagreeing with this method.

"I'm going back for Sora. We shouldn't have left him there." Leon frowned slightly. "It might be dangerous putting him in the same room with the king…but it might also be the only place to keep him safe."

"Alright," Cloud said. "I'll stay and protect the king and the others." He turned his head to the side, staring at the closest wall. "Be careful out there." His eyes returned to Leon's again, a tint of red glowing in his cheeks, which didn't go unmissed by Leon.

In fact, Leon had to shake himself out of the shock, telling himself it was just the glow from the candles hitting Cloud's cheeks. "Y-yeah…yeah you be safe too. I'll return as soon as I get Sora." He hesitated, feeling like he should say more but not being able to think of what it was. Giving a quick shake of his head, he moved past Cloud, running back down the hallway, feeling the other's eyes on his back watching him. Leon felt a need to stay…to help Cloud…but he knew that Cloud would feel bad if something did happen to Sora. Actually, Leon would feel bad too. It'd be his fought for confining Sora to his room.

_What was I thinking when I did that? _

Sighing, he ran back out into the courtyard, back among the dead and dying bodies of people from the palace. Some of the monsters looked up when he came out, before standing to their feet already starting in his direction.

_Cloud, stay safe._

Gunblade held ready, Leon started to run faster, heading straight towards the monsters, determined to plow his way through if he had too. He would bring Sora back safe, for Cloud's sake.

* * *

"A…A prince?" Riku asked, his eyes widened at the information he was receiving.

"Yep," Sora said, giving a little sheepish smile as he walked beside Riku down the hallway, the rusty metal sword held in his hand. "I can't talk much about it though, at least not here." He frowned slightly glancing down at the ground as he walked. "Cloud said that there might be ears around listening."

"I see," Riku said softly then sighed as he reached over resting a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Sorry for prying into your business."

"It's ok," Sora said glancing over at him and giving him a little cheeky smile. "I wanted to tell you anyway. But they kept saying not to." He snorted, still a little angry with King Ansem for saying that. Who did he think he was? Ok so he was the king but still, did he have to be so mean about it? "So um…don't tell them I told you anything, alright?"

"Yeah, ok." Riku replied, giving a quick nod of his head. Sure, Riku would keep the secret. They always kept each other's secrets. And not even the king could stop that. Sora grinned as he moved in front of Riku, stopping the other from walking as he held his hands behind his back, the grin turning into a more devious one.

"Hey, you want to see something cool?"

"Hm?" Riku frowned looking down at his little friend, noticing the little grin on Sora's face that screamed the other was about to do something he shouldn't be doing. "I don't know about that," Riku said softly, a bit of suspicion coming out in his voice. "If it has anything to do with what we were talking about earlier, should you really be showing me?"

"Oh it'll only take a second," Sora said giving Riku his cute pout. "Besides, who's gonna know? There's no one out here," Sora said gesturing to the empty hallway. "Everyone's probably outside kicking enemy butt by now. I promise it won't take long at all."

"We still have to find Kairi and the others," Riku said slowly, feeling his willpower dying as Sora's pout seemed to grow in size. "But…ok fine. Just for a second." He gave a sigh, his bangs blowing into the air for a second before he reached up resting a hand on his forehead. "But you sure can be a pain at times."

"That's what you love about me," Sora said, an eye closing as he stuck out a tongue playfully. He didn't notice the widening in Riku's eyes nor the redness of his cheeks as he closed his eyes taking a deep breath and holding his hand out face down in front of him. "Ok now just keep looking at my hand." He concentrated, his fingers twitching for a second before a sudden wind blew past him, his bangs blowing around for a second before the keyblade suddenly appeared in his hand. He heard a sound of exclamation before him, his grin growing as he opened his eyes looking at Riku's shocked eyes staring down at the keyblade.

"W-wha…h-how…?"

"It's called a keyblade," Sora said softly, giving a laugh as Riku reached down poking at it.

"A keyblade?" Riku asked in question, eyebrow lifting up. "What the heck is that?"

"I'm not really sure," Sora replied truthfully, frowning suddenly. "Cloud told me it's a weapon with the power of light. It's supposed to be able to fight the darkness or something." He glanced down at the keyblade in his hand, turning it to the side as the light gleamed off of it shining like new. "But just a few minutes ago it appeared and unlocked Leon's door."

"So that's what the click was about." Frowning, Riku gently took the keyblade from Sora's hand and held it up surveying it. "Kind of weird. I guess you got this from that Kingdom Hearts place too, huh?"

"Yeah," Sora said, rubbing behind his head sheepishly. "I'm not sure how…but I can kind of feel it um…inside me." He blushed trying to think of the best way to word it. "I mean it's like it's alive but not alive. Like it has its own heart and it stays somewhere deep inside me when I'm not using it. And when I am using it…this weird power just flows through me. It's really weird but really cool too."

"I see…." Riku handed him the keyblade back, smiling softly as he watched Sora take hold of it before making it disappear again. "So now I guess you really do get to play hero."

"I…w-well…it's not like I know how to use it all that well. And…I'm no hero."

"No…you're my hero," Riku said softly, reaching out and flicking at a piece of Sora's hair, causing the other's eyes to close at the action.

"I...y-your hero?"

"What a touching moment," a voice said from behind them, both boys turning in alert as they saw the hooded man standing there watching them. With the hood up, there was no way of knowing who was hidden there, the hooded figure clapping his hands as he started to move forward. "But I'm afraid it's not going to last long."

"Who are you?" Riku yelled out, glaring hotly at the figure, his sword held ready.

"Are you the guys attacking the palace?" Sora yelled, just as heated as his friend as he held his sword ready too, forcing himself not to rush at the figure across the hallway from him.

"So much hostility for one guest," the voice said sounding very much like a male's voice. "And just when I was getting ready to invite you to join me."

"You're not answering our question!" Sora yelled then growled slightly.

"Well I can only invite one of you," the figure said, obviously ignoring Sora's angry yells as he held up a hand before pointing a finger at Riku. "I'll take that one."

Angrily, Sora prepared himself to rush towards the man, but was stopped as Riku held out his arm blocking Sora from moving. "Riku!"

"What do you want with me?" Riku asked, giving the man his full attention though resting a hand on Sora's tummy reassuringly. "You're dressed like those other guys but you don't sound like them. Who are you?"

"Other guys, hm? So they did come here." The man reached up a his hands, taking hold of the hood and pulling it back, black hair with white streaks coming into view. The second thing Sora noticed, besides the pointy ears, was that the man had an eye patch over his eye. He looked nothing like the red head Axel or the smaller one named Roxas who claimed to be his brother. And he still didn't get a chance to talk to Cloud about it. "Just in case you wanted to know," the man said, a weird weapon appearing in both his hands looking just as dangerous as the man himself did. "The name's Xigbar. And I work for Organization XIII."

TBC…

Well…I wasn't going to break it here but for some reason I get the feeling that is cutting parts out of stories. Maybe they're too long buuut I doubt it. :dramatic sigh: Oh well. I updated, wee!


	7. Princely Garbs 07

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: I'm not sure if it'll seem too weird or not! Please don't kill me! I'll do better next time, I swear::scratches head:: I think it'll make it just in time for x-mas. Hehe. ::grins:: Merry Christmas, here's your gift.

Princely Garbs 7

"Just in case you wanted to know, the name's Xigbar. And I work for Organization XIII."

"Who cares about you or where you came from! What do you want with Riku?!" The little keyblader's glare didn't even come close to a threat to him. But what else could he do? His orders were to bring the prince of Traverse only. Killing the keyblader was out of the question. Well it wasn't as though the keyblader had any skills yet, but they did have their plans for him. And once they had the prince in their midst, they'd only have to sit back and watch the insanity unfold. Actually, it might not be a bad idea to bring the prince's cousin along too. But knowing the king, they had her well protected by now.

"I almost feel crushed that you don't want to know about me," Xigbar said, grinning as he started to walk towards them. "And I'm a little shocked that a prince would rather protect one life over say…thousands."

Riku frowned, not lowering his sword for a minute but yet growing more curious at the words that had been thrown out at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's simple," Xigbar said stopping a good distance in front of the two princes. "If you were to come with me willingly then both your little friend there and the people in this country can live. But I guess if you don't mind having their deaths on your hands then-"

"Shut up!" Sora yelled from beside Riku, growling as he moved starting to run towards Xigbar, his sword held ready. "You don't know anything! We'd all willing give our lives to protect Riku!"

"Sora…." The words of endearment slipped free from the prince's lips without him knowing only causing the smirk on Xigbar's face to grow even more. This was definitely perfect. Apparently Xenmas knew more than he was letting on. If the two princes felt such attachments for each other, then separating them would definitely make their goals become a reality. And with Roxas already on their side….

_Speaking of Roxas, he should be here shortly…._

"Xigbar? What are you doing here?!"

_Speak of the little devil…_

"About time you showed up, Roxas." Xigbar grinned, taking note on how Riku and Sora's stance changed, completely undecided over which was the worse threat.

"You!" Sora's pointed his finger at Roxas as the boy came through the door, Axel no doubt right behind him. "You're that guy we saw the other night!"

_Guess I was right._

"Shut up!" Roxas scowled glaring at Sora before turning his eyes to Xigbar. "What are you doing here? This is my mission, not yours!"

"If you mean killing the little twerp then you're right." Xigbar chuckled as he pointed his weapon at Riku. "However, I'm just here to take the prince back with me. You can do the dirty work."

"Xigbar, did Xenmas send you?" Axel said from beside Roxas giving a frown of his own as he looked towards the one eyed male. Xigbar smirked but it quickly shrunk to a frown as he narrowed his eyes staring at Axel. Something was different about him…no wait not different just…less….

_Ah I see it now…the darkness is fading in him. I'm surprised Xenmas hasn't done anything about it yet._

Xigbar just grinned in return, not giving a reply before he shot his weapon. Riku jumped slightly as the shot hit right by his foot. His eyes had widened in surprise for a moment before quickly returning to that heated glare as he stared at the one eyed member of Organization XIII. He was a feisty one that was true. No wonder Xenmas wanted him to be a part of the organization.

_Well, might as well get this over with.

* * *

_

"There's nothing here to stop me from killing you this time!" Roxas yelled out as he started to run towards Sora. Frowning, Sora held his sword ready. As Roxas got closer he held his hands to his sides, two weapons of his own appearing in them as he moved confidently towards them. Sora was only able to get quick glance of the weapons because of the speed that Roxas was moving at. Cursing, he debated pulling out his keyblade. He'd never used it in battle before so he was unsure of the results. However, from what Cloud said, the keyblade was made to destroy the darkness. So maybe these were a part of the darkness. Maybe these were the guys that had destroyed Kingdom Hearts. So was he supposed to use the keyblade? Cloud wasn't here to give him the answers he needed. He had to decide on his own, he had to-

"Sora, look out!" He was pushed out of the way suddenly and fell to the ground, finding out belatedly that Riku has pushed him out of the way Roxas's blade. Riku was lying on top of him though by the tightness in his face, he was in pain. Sitting up carefully, Sora saw why. His eyes turned to shock at he saw the large wound bleeding on the prince's side.

"Riku!" He gently turned the prince over resting him on his back desperate to check the gash. As he was reaching down though, the older boy caught his hand, pained eyes staring up at him in tenacity.

"Sora…run," he said softly, continuing even as the fear shined in Sora's eyes as he shook his head. "You gotta…get to safety….before…they get you too…."

_Why is this happening?!_

"Riku, no! I won't leave you like this!" Sora's eyes widened as a blade was held to his neck from in front of him. Lifting head slowly, his eyes rested on Roxas's calm features before slowly sliding down to the hands, taking note suddenly of the weapons he was holding. "K-Keyblades?!"

_What is he doing with keyblades?!_

"Finally, it ends," Roxas said softly, closing his eyes for a second before he lifted the sword over his head preparing to bring it down. Out of instinct, Sora lifted his arm to block the attack, his eyes clenched shut tightly at what was about to happen.

"Sora!"

(Cling!)

The sound of metal against metal startled Sora for a second as he opened his eyes, lowering his hand slowly daring himself to take a look. What he saw made hope shine in his eyes as he saw the gunblade blocking the keyblade from making contact with its intended target. "Leon!"

"Out of the way! This has nothing to do with you!" Roxas yelled out pushing his keyblade against Leon's. With a grunt, Leon pushed him back causing the other to stumble slightly before yelling out in anger as he came forward again slashing carelessly at Leon. Sora just watched in awe as Leon deflected the attacks once again pushing Roxas back from him.

"Why you-"

"Roxas, that's enough." Axel said from further back, his arms folded as his eyes landed on Leon. He didn't look too happy about the outcome of things. "It's clear we've become outnumbered here." The features on Roxas's face twisted into one of confusion.

"You should listen to your friend," a voice said from the doorway behind them.

"Cloud!" Cloud gave Sora a little nod of the head before he looked at the two males in front of him.

"So you're Roxas. I didn't think you would still be alive. I see I was wrong."

"Who are you?" Roxas asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he stared at Cloud. Cloud's expression saddened slightly before he bowed his head, resting a hand over his heart.

"I apologize for not being able to protect you back then. But…it is good to see you're alive." He didn't notice the look of surprise that surfaced on both Sora and Roxas's faces. Was…was Cloud saying that Roxas was….?

_So it was true? Roxas is my b-brother?_

"What are you talking about?" Roxas asked, frowning as the blades disappeared from his hands. "You're from Kingdom Hearts, aren't you? You're just like them. You abandoned me, didn't you?!"

"Roxas, let's go." Axel said as he walked over and stopped beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll take care of them another time."

"Tsk." Roxas looked over at Cloud then looked away roughly as he looked at Axel. "Fine. Let's go." With a nod, Axel waited until Roxas disappeared first before following in his footsteps.

"They…they just disappeared! In thin air!" Sora stared at the place the two males had just been standing. Leon seemed surprised too though he didn't show it much as he put his sword away turning his attention to Sora.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Sora frowned, glancing down at Riku who was losing consciousness now from the wound inflicted on him. "But Riku…."

"He's strong." Leon said, resting a reassuring hand on Sora's shoulder. "He'll be fine." Kneeling down, Leon picked Riku up gently in his arms, taking care not to cause more damage to his wound.

"I see I came a little too late," Cloud said giving a sigh as he finally stepped inside.

"…." Turning, Leon walked past Cloud not even bothering to give him a reply as he kept moving.

"Leon…." Cloud reached out as Leon was walking by, touching the other on the shoulder only to visibly flinch when the other pulled his arm away roughly.

"You disregarded my orders," Leon said, turning his glaring eyes on Cloud. "You were supposed to stay back and protect the King and Kairi. If anything's happened to them, I won't forgive you."

"…." Cloud shook his head. "As second in command, I am allowed to make decisions that I believe are correct for certain situations."

"As second in command, you are to follow my orders. Disobey me again and I will see to it that you are punish." Glare still in his eyes, he turned his stare on Sora. "Sora, let's go."

"Ah…r-right." Giving Cloud a concerned look, Sora turned and followed Leon, the two leaving the second in command behind to stare at the emptiness of the hallway. Sora was worried now. He'd never seen Leon act so Coldly to Cloud before. It wasn't even anything like at Kingdom Hearts. This was more…real….

* * *

With the current threat gone, the monsters had disappeared from sight as if they were really just smoke. Because the threat was gone, everyone was starting to go about cleaning up the castle. There was a tension in the air though as people kept looking over their shoulders in fear of the monsters returning. The monsters had definitely caused a disturbance, the confidence the people once had in the security of the kingdom being broken. What were they going to do if the monsters reappeared? They were lucky there were people still alive. 

Having made it back to the room, Leon had made quick instructions that Sora was to stay inside with the king and Kairi while he went to find Aerith. He was made to keep watch over the bleeding prince and had been quick to make up a makeshift bandage from part of his shirt to try and stop the bleeding. He was worried. He should have been stronger. If he had been paying attention, if he hadn't been a coward he would have been able to help Riku. Instead all he could do was sit there like a chicken and almost get killed. If Leon hadn't showed up…he would have been dead.

_How am I supposed to be Riku's protector if I can't even protect him!_

He continued to stay by Riku's side, resting his hand over the other's feeling the chill running through Riku's fingers. What was taking Leon so long to get back? Why wasn't he back yet?! If he didn't hurry, Riku could…could die! Riku was going to die because of him! Because he wasn't strong enough! He should have trained harder! He shouldn't have pulled Riku into this! He…he should never have come back to this place!

"Sora…." The voice was gentle as a hand rested on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder seeing Kairi standing there staring down at him worried. She smiled sadly, reaching out a hand and brushing a finger against his cheek before pulling it away, showing him the tears. He reached up his hand rubbing it against his cheek then looked at it in surprise when he saw the wetness there. Quickly he used his arms wiping at his face to clear away the tears. Why was he crying? Everything was going to be ok. Riku was going to be ok, he had to be ok! "It's ok, Sora," Kairi said softly as she kneeled down pulling him into a hug. "He'll be fine. Everything's going to be ok now."

Hesitantly Sora hugged back, trying to remember the last time he'd felt this need…or the feeling of such an embrace. With the lack of a mother or a father, he'd never had that experience before. He could only imagine that Riku was going through the same lacking both his parents too. What could have happened to them? Sora had never bothered to ask, though Riku probably didn't remember anyway.

_Riku…._

"Sorry, everyone! I'm here now!" The door opened admitting Aerith. "Where's the prince? Oh, I see him now." As she got closer, Sora backed up giving her the space she needed as she kneeled on the other side of Riku. She smiled looking down at the inexperienced bandaging there and glanced up at Sora, giving him a quick smile of reassurance. "I see you've taken good care of him. I'm sure he'd be happy to know that once he's awake." She rested her hands on Riku's chest. "I can still feel his heart beat. Don't worry, Sora…Riku is strong. He won't die this easily." Her eyes slipped shut as she started to concentrate, a white light gathering at her finger tips before starting to flow into Riku's body.

The body on the ground arched up slightly as the power filled him before falling flat against the ground again, his pained face being ebbed away into a more calm, peaceful look. Sora felt a sigh slip free in relief as he watched Riku's features, his hand still holding onto Riku's. Thank goodness for Aerith. She was the only one with the ability to heal like that, the only one with that kind of power.

"Mm…." The sound froze Sora where he was as he stared down at Riku, noticing the other's eyelids twitching. He was waking up. He was alive! As his eye's opened up, Aerith fell backwards tiredly, being caught easily in Leon's arms.

"Don't overdo it," Leon said softly, the healer giving him a smile as she nodded her head.

Riku's eyes glanced around through the slit lids before they fell on Sora, a smile just barely gracing his lips. "Glad you're…safe…."

"Riku…." The grin broke out on Sora's face as he gently squeezed Riku's hand feeling his eyes starting to water up again. "Riku! Oh Riku, I'm so glad you're-"

"Riku! You're ok!"

"Oof!"

Yuffie grinned like a fool as she clung on Sora from behind, looking over his shoulder at Riku, apparently happy too. Everyone started to gather around, news of the prince being awake reaching those in the room. The king wasn't there though, being inside the hidden room as he consulted privately with Merlin. A report had been made about Riku's condition to which Ansem had left Sora in charge of reporting to him if Riku's condition changed. "You had everyone so worried! I'm glad you're ok though."

"Yuffie, get off!"

"Sora baby was the most worried though. He didn't leave your side even for a second!"

"Yuffie!"

"He didn't, huh?" A smirk grazed Riku's lips as he carefully sat up, any evidence of his pain gone now from his eyes. "Sorry to make you worry." Sora blushed glancing down and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a big voice.

"Dun go scaring us like that!" Cid yelled out as he smacked Riku in the back of the head angrily. "Ya damn well nearly gave everyone a heart attack coming in here with a gash like that! Yas lucky ya innards didn't come spilling out!"

"Oh stop exaggerating, old man! It wasn't that big!" Yuffie yelled out sticking her tongue out at Cid.

"What'd you say you little brat?!" Cid yelled out in return, giving her the evil eye as he bit down on the end of his straw. On the other side, Leon shook his head smacking his hand to his forehead. But seeing Leon made Sora think of something else. Riku noticed where he was looking and the look on his face and frowned as he gave his hand a squeeze.

"Something wrong?" He asked. Sora frowned and shook his head quickly, not wanting to make Riku worry any more than he already was. Still…Cloud hadn't showed up yet. And honestly, Leon had definitely went a little too far with his words.

"Just a second, I'll be right back," Sora said standing to his feet and walking over to Leon. As he got closer, the tall brunet looked down at him, frowning himself as he folded his arms over his chest wondering what the younger one wanted. "Leon…um…about earlier…."

"…I'm going to go look for him," Leon said giving a sigh. "I might have been a little too hard on him. It's still too dangerous to be out right now." Sora stared up at him in shock, his mouth hanging open. Was Leon…admitting that he was wrong? Was he going to go apologize to Cloud for how he treated him?! "What?" Leon said, glaring down at him though there was a tint of red in his cheeks. "We need as many soldiers as possible, that's all."

"But…"

"Oh my god, were you being mean to Cloudy again, Squally?!"

"It's Leon!" Leon yelled out with a scowl. "Whatever, I'm gone." He turned grumbling under his breath as he left out of the room.

"Aww but Squally-poo." Yuffie grinned as she watched him leave. "He so wants to do him. I think I'll go watch." Giving an evil chuckle, Yuffie went out the door following behind Leon unknowingly. Oh when Yuffie wanted some gossip, she was the quietest there was. After all, ninja was in her blood…just not in her big mouth. Sora shook his head. That wasn't important right now, right now he needed to follow Leon's example and apologize to Riku.

"Those two will never change."

"Yeah…." Sora blinked then turned around finding Riku standing behind him. Despite being fully healed, it was obviously putting a straining on Riku's body. In only a short distance he was already breathing hard and sweating. "Riku! You shouldn't be up right now!" Sora shook his head as he grabbed his hand tugging him back towards his makeshift bedding slowly. "Lie down and get some rest." Riku just grinned as he followed behind Sora, finally sitting when he'd made it back. Sora sat down beside him, the two of them secluded in the corner by the wall. Still Sora found his thoughts escaping him as he worried about the future. Should he stay here? Maybe he should really just listen to the king and not get Riku involved. That way, if anyone got hurt, it'd only be here.

"What are you thinking about?" Riku asked him, frowning as he stared at him.

"Nothing," Sora said softly knowing full well that it was a lie. He tried to ignore the look Riku gave him as he stared down at his hands placing them flat against the floor. He knew exactly what to do now. He'd probably consult Cloud about it first, but he was decided. He was going to sneak out tonight and get as far away from the palace as possible. He was thinking about heading back to Kingdom Hearts, maybe train himself to become stronger and better able to protect himself. Then…then he could defend the heartless. Yeah! Then Riku could stay here with his new wife. And Kairi would also stay here and never have to worry about going through this ever again.

Determination shined in Sora's eyes as he clenched his fist tightly.

_I won't let anything hurt you guys ever again!

* * *

_

"Cloud…"

The named male didn't turn around as he continued piling clothing and other objects into a pack. He didn't reply acting as though he hadn't just heard Leon talking to him. It looked like he was leaving. Maybe Leon really had gone too far this time. He'd gotten too angry even though Cloud was only trying to help.

"Cloud…I…apologize," Leon said, his hand twitching at his side at how hard it was to say those words. No, he was never one to admit he was wrong. Even now it felt weird to say sorry. He was always right, never wrong. So what was it that had him apologizing to the second in command like this?

Cloud paused in putting up his clothes before he continued again not looking like he was about to say anything. However, as Leon opened his mouth to speak again, Cloud beat him to it simply saying, "I'm leaving," before he tied up his bag completing his packaging.

"…Why?" Leaving so suddenly just because of what Leon had said earlier? Was Cloud really that childish?

"I'm taking Sora with me," Cloud said as he finally turned around looking up at Leon, his eyes not showing a care in the world. "Like you said, I was careless. There is no way for the kingdom to stay safe if the keyblade bearer continues to stay here." He turned around again easily putting the pack on his back. "So we'll leave tonight while everyone's asleep."

Leon just stared at him. He was…speechless to say the least. To think that he was going to leave so suddenly…was it really because of the threat? Or was it more because of him? Either way, Cloud didn't look like he as about to change his mind. A frown lifted to Leon's lips as he rubbed at his forehead, trying to avert a headache trying to appear. Cloud was being difficult.

"This is stupid," he finally said, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Cloud. "Where are you planning to go? If you leave you'll only make it easier for the enemy to find you. On top of that, Sora is still learning how to use the sword. He won't be ready for the enemies that face him."

"I'll teach him everything I know as we go," Cloud said, not backing down as he stared at Leon defiantly. "There's a place for us to go, a place that might provide as much protection as Kingdom Hearts had done in the past. If we go there then they may be able to help us and also help Sora to learn more about his abilities."

"Another place?" Leon frowned again as he rested his hand on his hip. "And what 'place' is this?"

"I'm not obligated to say," Cloud said, closing his eyes as he moved walking past Leon. "But trust that we will no be in the way any further." He left out of the room, leaving Leon to stare after him with a look of frustration.

_What is he thinking leaving at a time like this?_

TBC…

Ah, good enough stopping spot. Sorry if it's kinda a weird chapter, but I got kinda out of the funk until somewhere at the end. Took me forever to push myself to type on this update, for one reason or another. More like I didn't know how to handle Xigbar being this was my first time writing him in a story. ::snickers:: Hopefully though, I think I can manage the next chapter without a problem. Wish me luck::peace sign::


	8. Princely Garbs 08

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Um…ok it's not six months later but hey, It only took me almost two months this time to update! Hehe, enjoy the read!

Princely Garbs 8

Sora moved swiftly but quietly as he exited out into the hallway. Because of the recent attack, he was sure most people were safe within their rooms if not camping out in the throne room for the night with the others. There were some guards wondering around, but he moved quietly, timing his action as he went from hiding spot to hiding spot. It wasn't so much a problem of them finding him as it was a problem of Leon finding out his plans. Everyone close to him was asleep inside the throne room on little pallets, everyone but Leon and Cloud.

He was certain he'd be able to persuade, if not command Cloud to let him go. However, Leon would be a different matter all together. He would go so far as to pick him up and toss back into the throne room, feet and arms bounded if he had too. That's why Sora had to move quietly. He didn't want to be found out by a soldier who'd only go and alarm Leon of his actions. That was hypothetically speaking. It all depended on just what kind of orders Leon had given them.

Pressing his back against the chilled wall, hiding in the shadows, Sora watched the two guards by the front gate keeping watch. There was no way to sneaking out easily. The only reason he and Riku had ever made it out in the first place was because they were so relaxed, too busy in their own thoughts to even keep guard. However, right now, everyone was on edge worried that the monsters would somehow show up again.

Sora didn't blame them though; he was pretty freaked out too considering what he'd seen. Hell, they'd come close to killing Riku while all he could do was stand by helplessly and watch. He was such a coward. That's why he had to leave. If the monsters were really after him, then the least he could do was lead the danger away from the castle. He'd never survive an attack on his own, he knew that, but he'd rather it just be him over the thousands living in the kingdom.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sora jumped in surprise, looking over his shoulder like a child who'd just been caught sneaking out of bed to get a cookie from the kitchen. Leon had his arms folded, frowning as he glared down at Sora, awaiting an explanation to his escapades.

_Crap!_

"I-I was just um…g-getting some water!" Sora said lamely, wincing slightly at his lack of creativity. Couldn't he have come up with a better lie than that one?! Obviously Leon didn't buy it by the darker look he was giving him.

"You're planning to sneak out," Leon said coolly, the look in his eye just daring him to say otherwise.

"I….um…..w-well…." Sora sighed looking down as he felt his will giving away. "Yes…."

"Cloud must have already spoken to you about this then," Leon said, continuing to glare down at him, not quite realizing the look of confusion crossing Sora's face.

"Um…spoke to me?"

"About his plans to take you and leave." Leon frowned then, a look of confusion now crossing his own features. "Why else would you be trying to leave?"

"For their safety," Cloud said easily as he walked up to them from behind, ignoring the look Leon gave him as the other turned to look at him. "He believes that he might just be the cause for the attacks on Radiant Garden. Therefore, he wants to leave as soon as possible so more people won't get hurt. Isn't that right, Sora?" Cloud looked right at Sora as he spoke those words, noticing that his eyes had widened before he glanced away. Cloud was way too smart for his own good.

_Maybe a little too smart._

Giving another frustrated sigh, Sora looked up at his two commandants and gave a little nod. "Those guys are after me, I know that. If I stay here, I'll only end up putting more people in danger. The best way to solve that is for me to leave, right?"

"Correct," Cloud said slowly. "But going off on your own isn't going to solve your problem. You're going to need friends as well as people that know how to fight to go with you."

"But I already know how to fight!" Sora said in defense, pouting slightly. "And you're the ones that said that too many people would draw too much attention." He did pay attention in his studies, despite what people thought.

"I'm planning to go with you, your highness," Cloud said softly as he rested a hand over his chest giving a slight bow. "It's my duty to protect my prince no matter what." Sora blushed slightly, not having expected such attention from the ever silent Cloud. Apparently, Leon didn't expect it either, his eyes wide slightly as he stared at Cloud.

"Um…y-you don't have to do that," Sora said blushing still as he waved his hands in front of him. "I mean my kingdom's been destroyed a long time now and I didn't even know until recently that I was even a prince at all."

"Though your kingdom had been destroyed, you being alive means that the kingdom still lives."

"A prince, huh?" All three males in the hallway looked back, seeing Riku standing there, his arms folded as he looks at the three soldiers in front of him. He glanced over happening to notice the backpack on Cloud's shoulder as well as the one Sora was carrying before he frowned. "You guys planning to go somewhere?"

"Um…..well….." Sora scratched at his cheek looking away again. Strange that he'd been finding himself speechless a lot tonight. Could it be because he didn't actually expect to be caught?

"Yes," Cloud said as he walked over to Sora and rested a hand on his shoulder, though his eyes were focused on Riku. "I am taking Sora to see the kingdom where he was born," Cloud said simply, not giving any further hints that there was more to it.

"Then I'll go with you," Riku said walking over towards them.

"No. There is a possibility it will be too danger for you to go as well," Cloud continued even as Riku shook his head in disagreement.

"I'm already in danger," Riku said as he stopped in front of them, his arms folded reminding him of Leon. In fact, they both had that same 'don't toy with me' type look on their faces. In another situation, Sora would have laughed at that. However, right now, he was worried that Riku would actually end up going with them. But then again, there was no way Leon would allow that, right? "Those organization guys or whatever, they want me too, don't they? And by the sounds of it, they're after Sora for something. Probably the keyblade, am I right?"

Cloud frowned and looked over at Leon who was also showing a frown. Frowns still on their faces, the two commanders turned their eyes on Sora causing the other to jump back slightly.

"W-what? I didn't tell him much! I just showed him the keyblade and-"

"It's not his fault," Riku cut in quickly. "I used my authority to force him to speak." He glared at Leon daring him to argue the point. Leon only stared back but didn't say anything as he just stood there, arms folded. He didn't look too happy with the results. Neither did Cloud, actually. Sora on the other hand felt a bit of excitement at the idea that Riku would be going with him. And that made him feel guilty.

The reason he was leaving in the first place was to make sure that Riku and the other were kept safe. But it was true that the Organization was after Riku. The question was why? Were they after Riku because he was a prince? Or were they trying to kidnap him to force their way with Sora? Neither idea made Sora feel any better. But he doubted he could get Riku to stay behind.

"Ok," Leon said quietly, causing three heads to turn to him in shock.

"…Ok?" Cloud said, a bit of confusion and suspicion rising in his voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean ok, the four of us will leave together." As he turned and started to walk away, the other three frowned glancing at each other before starting to follow him, wanting an explanation and knowing that Leon would give one. Well…that and trying to get away from Leon now would be pointless, for Sora at least. Cloud could probably have managed it though. "If the darkness is really after both of the princes then we'll do better to take Riku with us as well."

"So you're going too?" Cloud asked, though the words came out as more of a statement. "I thought you'd say that it'd be smarter for one of us to stay and guard the King."

"The king is strong. He'll be able to protect himself." He turned the corner leading them to an exit, only one guard watching over this area, which was surprising. And by the looks of it, this guard didn't seem the type to question his commanding officer. "He'll also have Yuffie and the others there to protect him."

"What's that about me?!"

_Oh man, another one?!_

The four males turned around finding the named girl standing there with her hands on her hips. She had a pout on her lips, not happy at the idea that Leon and the others were going to leave her behind. Not that Sora was complaining. At least then he wouldn't have to hear her constantly teasing him about Riku and Kairi. "You guys aren't planning on leaving me behind, are you?"

"Someone has to stay here and keep an eye on the king," Leon said, a hand resting against his head as he rubbed his temple. If this kept going on, they'd never get out. And Sora really wanted to get out before Kairi found out.

_I just don't want her to get hurt._

He felt eyes on him and glanced over noticing the worried look Riku was giving him. It made him feel warm inside as he returned a reassuring smile, watching the other's frown turn upside down. To make Riku happy…that's all he really wanted. He wanted to see his best friend's smile.

"The old man can take care of himself," Yuffie said, the pout still on her face before she gave a mischievous grin and ran jumping on Leon's back from behind. "I'm going with you guys, Squally wally!"

"I told you not to call me that," Leon said giving a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "And you're not going. You're staying here and protecting the king like your duties calls."

"Or I can just go tell the king right now what you're planning to do." She giggled slightly as she leaned over his shoulder poking his cheek. "You know he wouldn't like it if he knew you were going to sneak out and take the prince and Sora with you behind his back."

"…."

"Looks like she got him there," Riku said with a sigh beside Sora before he grinned at him. "Guess I'll get my chance to go on an adventure after all." Sora blushed giving a quick nod of his head before he smiled up at him. He remembered the time he left as well as the gentle kisses placed on his cheek by both Riku and his cousin. This time though, they would be going together. Even though he shouldn't have felt excited, he did. This would be the first time he'd get to go out and do something with Riku that didn't require sneaking out. But this also meant he had to keep his guard up, he couldn't freeze up like he did last time and cause Riku to get hurt. He'd really never be able to forgive himself then.

_But that other guy…he had a keyblade, no he had two of them._

Frowning, Sora glanced up at Cloud who was staring at Leon. Should he ask him? If Roxas was really his brother, didn't he have the right to know? Maybe Cloud could explain why he had the keyblade. Maybe he could tell Sora how to get stronger? He was just barely learning how to call it at will. But he still didn't have any skills in using it for combat. This was going to be way different than a regular sword. After all, it had the power to stop darkness, right?

Either way, asking Cloud about it right now probably wasn't a good idea. He needed to wait until the two of them were alone, out of earshot of both Leon and Riku. And Yuffie. It was a question he needed the answer to for himself. Did he have a brother? Did he actually have one living relative he could call his own? Cloud had apologized to Roxas for something. And Roxas knew about Kingdom Hearts and blamed Cloud. What happened back then that he didn't know about? What was it that Cloud wasn't telling him?

_Roxas…._

"Where is this place you're heading to?" Leon asked as he stopped them in the dark hallway.

"To the Magic Kingdom," Cloud returned, his arms folding over his chest as he looked away. It made Sora wonder if Leon had actually gotten the chance to apologize for the way he was acting before. But considering who this was he was talking about, he doubted it. "We're going there to see the king."

"The Magic Kingdom?" Riku asked, frowning. "I've never heard of the place."

"It's a place that only Kingdom Hearts and the four kings know about. You would have learned about it eventually from his majesty King Ansem."

"Four kings huh?" Sora asked, ears perking up as he stared at Cloud's back in interest. "So who are the other kings?"

"There's King Sephiroth of Hallow Bastion. King Ansem, as I've just said, of Radiant Garden. King Mickey of the Magic Kingdom. And…"Cloud turned around, his eyes landing on the short keyblader. "You, the last standing family member of the king of Kingdom Hearts."

"So Sora really is a prince huh," Riku said, his eyes moving back and forth between the second in command and his young friend.

"That's correct," Cloud returned as he turned around starting to walk off. "And each kingdom has their own way of getting to Magic Kingdom. Since I'd prefer not to let King Ansem know of our plans yet, I believe we should head to Kingdom Hearts."

"But that's such a long ride from here," Sora said, a cute little pout on his lips.

"We won't be riding," Cloud said as he started to walk again. "We'll be walking."

"But that's even longer!" Sora pouted even more as he gave a sigh. "Without the horses that's way longer."

"It's not that long," Cloud said rolling his eyes. "A day's walk, maybe two."

"But that'll take forever!"

"Stop whining," Leon said, the authority noticeable in his voice even though he didn't turn around. "You've been slacking off lately. This will be a perfect opportunity for you to train your body and soul."

_Crap! Leon, you're no help at all!_

Sora pouted but didn't say another word as he followed behind his two commanders. Once Leon made up his mind on something, there was no point arguing over it. And with Cloud backing him up in this, there was no way he'd be able to get out of it. He noticed that Riku was grinning over at him and pouted folding his arms in frustration. This was annoying. But then again, he'd get to see a new place.

_I wonder what Magic Kingdom is like? I bet Merlin knows something about it._

"Keep walking, we've got a long ways to go," Leon said from up ahead with a half glance over his shoulder at the others behind him.

"But we've been walking for hours now," Sora said pouting as he lagged behind everyone. Even Riku seemed to be keeping up, though he did slow down when he saw his friend being zapped of his energy. He had to keep his mind away from how sexy Sora looked, his skin glistening with sweat and his cheeks flushed as he panted. "How much further do we have to go?" Sora asked as he stopped walking, resting his hands on his knees.

"We haven't even made it out of King Treize's territory," Cloud said as he glanced around surveying their surrounding. Right now they were surrounded by the high grasses of the fields to the south. They could easily have taken the trail but they wanted to get to where they were going unnoticed. Neither King Treize nor any of the Soldiers of Radiant Garden were supposed to know of their whereabouts. If it happened, they'd surely drag the young prince back, despite Leon's authority. Especially now with the attack on the palace. It wasn't safe to be out here.

_We need to get as far as we can before nightfall. _Riku glanced back at Sora again giving a slight frown as he saw Sora stumbling forward tiredly. _He's not used to this._ Sora wasn't even considered a true soldier yet. No, training wouldn't prepare him for this neither would it prepare him for what was to come. There was a chance an attack would happen. So they were just going to have to keep their eyes peeled. However, that one guy….Roxas, was it? Riku was definitely going to have to keep his eyes on him. Those keyblades of his were no joke.

Reaching down, Riku rested a hand on his side where the wound had been. Even though Aerith had healed it, he did still feel pain from it. He'd checked it out himself, and found there to be darkening there, probably a bruise. But something about those keyblades of Roxas's bothered him. They seemed similar to the one Sora had but darker. Though he could barely remember it now, Riku had felt like it was trying to suck something out of him…something very important to him. But it had only been in a flash of a moment before the pain had kicked in. They may not have looked it, but they were really some strong weapons.

"You feeling ok, prince Riku?" Yuffie asked, surprising Riku by her sudden appearance in front of him. She had a worried look on her face as she stared at him. "It's not too hot for you is it?"

"I'm fine," Riku said frowning slightly. "And you don't have to call me prince." Prince…that's right, Sora's one too right? Riku glanced over at the other finding him sitting on the ground now. Sora's homeland had been destroyed when he was little. And Ansem had found him on their outing one day and somehow Sora went from being a prince to being a servant and a soldier of Radiant Garden.

_I wonder how he feels about that…._

It had taken a bit of prying but Riku had finally gotten the others to bring down and tell him everything that was going on. But there were some details still missing from the story. And for one reason or another, he felt that Cloud probably knew what those details were. Could they really trust Cloud? He glanced over at the man noticing how the other seemed to be glancing around checking their surroundings. He seemed to notice eyes on him and looked over at Riku for a second before he looked away.

_How do we know it wasn't him who destroyed Kingdom Hearts?_

Riku frowned but decided against saying anything. Sora would probably not forgive him for accusing his former servant of such a thing. After all, Sora was too kind hearted for his own good sometimes.

…_But that's why I…._

"We'll take a break for now," Leon said finally giving up as he turned around looking at them. "Ten minutes and we'll head out. The sooner we get to Kingdom Hearts, the sooner we can get to this Magic Kingdom place and find help."

"Also, the prince should rest up as much as possible. That injury won't be fully healed if he doesn't," Cloud added in despite the looks both Leon and Riku gave him.

"Thank god," Sora said tiredly as he flopped down onto the ground instantly. "My feet are killing me."

"Well they are huge," Yuffie said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"They are not!"

"Yes they are!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, a sign that he was getting frustrated all ready. That made Riku smirk. It wasn't that he hated Leon or anything…just that he disliked a lot of his methods and the fact that he knew hardly anything about the man. But he knew that deep down, he could trust this guy with anything, just like how he trusted the others.

_I hope Kairi and the others are ok. It'll be bad if an attack happens while we're gone._

"And I bet Riku likes them too."

"Hm?" Riku blinked hearing his name and glanced over at Yuffie who was still jibing at Sora about something. Except…Sora's cheeks were red. "I like what?"

"Sora's cute little cheeks!" Yuffie said happily as she grinned. "They're just so plush and chubby! Who wouldn't like them?" She reached over pinching Sora's cheeks.

"Ah! Yuffie, s-stop it!" Sora pushed the hands away, blushing even more as he held a hand over his cheeks to try and protect them from the onslaught of Yuffie's fingers. "They are not cute!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too! Are too!"

"Are not! Are not!"

"They are too! Aren't they, Riku?"

Riku blinked at finding himself mixed in the mess before he grinned giving a nod of his head. He couldn't help it, picking on Sora was one of the highlights of his life, especially if it gave him an opportunity to see the cute little pout on Sora's lips. "Yeah, they're pretty cute looking. Definitely little chubby, baby cheeks."

"Rikuuu!" Sora pouted though Riku wasn't sure if he saw his cheeks redden even more or not. But deep down, the thought gave him a sense of satisfaction causing him to laugh.

_But it's true…they are cute…._

"Let's get moving," Leon said grumbling in frustration as he rubbed at his head. We've still got a ways to go before nightfall."

"Yes oh great captain!" Yuffie said giggling as she saluted him.

Riku glanced over at Cloud noticing how quiet the other had been since they left. Just what was he thinking behind those bland eyes of his? Cloud just turned and started to walk off following behind Leon who glanced over at him also. So Leon was noticing it too. This could be a trap.

A hand blocked his vision and Riku looked up seeing a smiling Sora looking down at him. He smiled in return, forgetting his Cloud worries at the moment as he reached up grabbing Sora's hand and being helped up. "Thanks."

"Um, y-you're welcome," Sora replied rubbing behind his head as he gave him a cheesy grin. "It's what friends do, right?"

"Yeah," Riku said smiling at him as he started walking, the smaller boy following along beside him. "It's what friends do."

"…Hey Riku?" Sora asked not glancing over as he spoke the words. Riku frowned slightly looking down but the other didn't look at him, as he kept walking. "Is this ok for you to go with me? What about your wedding to Namine?"

"Hm? What about it?" Riku chuckled as he rested a hand on Sora's shoulder feeling the other jump slightly at the unexpected touch. "I didn't want to marry her anyway. I don't even know the girl."

"O-oh," Sora stuttered, his body relaxing again as he grew accustomed to the touch. "Then um…d-do you have someone you like?"

_What's with these questions all of a sudden?_

"No, not yet." Riku said the words slowly as he glanced down at the other. But still nothing was given away by the keyblader's expression. "I guess I haven't found the right person yet. But I'm not in a rush for marriage anyway. I want to enjoy my freedom while I still can."

"I-I see…." Sora went quiet causing Riku to glance at him again. It was unusual for Sora to make a comment like that one. What was on his mind?

"What about you and Kairi?"

"Huh?" Sora looked up at that, eyes widening slightly in surprise at being asked that question. "Me and Kairi? W-what do you mean?"

"I mean do you want to be with her?" Riku asked giving him a comforting smile. "I figured maybe you two could get married once this whole thing blows over. And I'm sure King Ansem will help you to rebuild Kingdom Hearts so you two can-"

"What are you two talking about? Hmmmm?" Yuffie said though she grinned as she walked backward looking at the two of them.

"N-nothing," Sora said quickly as he slipped free from Riku's gasp running off ahead of them to walk with Leon and Cloud. "Let's get going! We gotta get to Kingdom Hearts, right?" Well…that was a sudden change.

"He likes you," Yuffie said suddenly as she looked at Riku. "He just doesn't know it yet."

"Uh….y-yeah…..I guess," Riku said frowning as he looked at her, not sure what he was supposed to say to that. He doubted Sora really liked him in that way…not that he was even sure of his own feelings at the moment. And the way he responded to the thought of Kairi….

_They'd be…better together….._

Sighing, Riku followed behind his protectors, preparing his mind for what he'd be facing ahead.

TBC….

Stopping point again. Consider it my Valentine's Day gift of lateness or something like that. I really enjoyed this chapter which surprised me somewhat. And I can't wait for the next chapter. Hehe, there might be some action going on next time, but we'll see what happens when it happens, ne? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update!


	9. Princely Garbs 09

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments:

Princely Garbs 09

"Cloud…"

Cloud looked up frowning slightly as he found the young prince of Kingdom Hearts staring down at him, his face being illuminated by the lights from the fire. Right now everyone was resting in a circle around the campfire being as close as allowable to keep warm. From a quick glance around, everyone else was asleep, everyone but the boy staring down at him.

"What's wrong?" Cloud whispered softly not wanting to make too much noise and wake someone up.

"We…need to talk," Sora said. Talk? What could they need to talk about? Frowning, Cloud gave a quick nod of his head before he got up from the comfort of the fire and walked off, Sora quickly following behind him. Despite it all, he still couldn't bring himself to disobey his prince.

_I can't disobey either one of them…not Sora…not Riku…maybe not even Roxas…._

Roxas…how was he alive? He was sure he must be dead by now.

_So they never killed him…_.

"What did you want to talk about?" Cloud asked turning around to look down at the younger boy noticing how the other was staring up at him frowning definitely serious about this.

"Tell me about Roxas," Sora said slowly, sounding unsure if he really wanted to know. "I mean…is…is he really my…my brother?"

A sense of alertness filled him. "How did you…?" Did he know? No, he couldn't know, he'd never told Sora about that. Unless somehow…did Roxas make contact with Sora previously? Or was there someone else out there that…?

_No it has to be the obvious choice. Roxas must have told him in their encounter._

But should he tell him the truth? His loyalty as a soldier demanded he tell his master the truth. But his mind fought against telling him what had happened. What would happen if he told Sora the truth? It could spell trouble. Sora would not be able to fight knowing that he was battling his own flesh and blood. And if that happened, Roxas wouldn't hesitate to kill him. No, Roxas was a part of the darkness now.

_But the doubt has already been planted. And he will eventually find out either way…would it be better to just tell him now and get it out of the way? _

"Cloud?"

Cloud jolted back to the present and looked down at Sora. He reached down resting a hand on the young prince's shoulder as he let a breath of air escape his lips. "…Yes," h e said feeling his hand tighten. He didn't like this…but at least Sora would have the time to cope with it once they reached Magic Kingdom. "Yes…Roxas is your brother."

The frown didn't leave Sora's face; in fact it got deeper as he took in the words. "Then why is he with the Organization? What did he mean by…being abandoned? What happened back then?"

"Carelessness," Cloud said with a shrug, wishing he could just forget about it all. "There were…a few rare times when you, your mother, and Roxas would go outside of the castle for a little time away from the castle. You two were about the age of two then. The queen completely adored you both."

"Was I cute?" Sora asked, big blue eyes watching Cloud intently as he become engrossed in the story. By now the two of them had sat down to make themselves comfortable while Cloud explained everything that had happened.

Course Cloud couldn't help smiling at the question. "If the queen could have dressed you as a girl, she would have." He chuckled slightly when Sora pouted and folded his arms, obviously not appreciating the joke. Clearing his throat to keep himself from laughing, Cloud continued on where he left off. "But the problem came when a person wearing a black cloak suddenly ran by and snatched Roxas away. It had happened so fast, I don't think anyone had time to react to it. I believe that it would not have mattered to them which one of you they had gotten, so long as it was a prince of Kingdom Hearts. Anyway, we followed them determined not to let them get away. However, following the figure, we had only seconds before the black portal the figure had disappeared into closed up sealing us away from Roxas for good." Cloud frowned a bit feeling a little confused now. "But I had thought they would have killed him to get to his light."

"Light…a kidnapping," Sora said slowly then frowned. "Why would they want a prince of Kingdom Hearts?"

"For the power of the keyblades of course." Cloud stood up and reached down to help Sora up. "Being that he's a prince of our kingdom, he would probably be able to wield a keyblade. Though it is a strong weapon against the darkness, it can also be used to aid the darkness as well."

"But I thought there was only one keyblade."

"I've only seen the king use the one, but there was rumor that there were more keyblades in existence."

"Is that even possible?"

"Of course. You saw the two Roxas was holding, right? I can only guess that his keyblades have been effected by the darkness."

"How come he has two at one time?"

"Well…because-"

"How come I only have this one?"

"I think it's cause-"

"Can I get two also? Or maybe three? That's be so cool!"

Cloud frowned slightly feeling that they were getting into the question-answer mode. Usually once Sora reached this state there was no stopping them. So that left only one thing to do. "Go get some rest," Cloud said resting a hand on top of Sora's head before turning starting to head off.

"Huh?" Sora asked surprised by the suddenness. "But why?"

"Because if you don't you'll be complaining and whining when we have to get moving in the morning. We'll probably be going a lot faster than we did today. And Leon won't be stopping this time."

"I don't see why we couldn't just take the horses," Sora said frowning and folding his arms as he turned to head back to his little sleeping spot.

Cloud laughed slightly. "Don't let Leon hear you say that. He'll just tell you that real men don't need horses."

"Oh right," Sora said stopping as he turned around looking at Cloud. "Is it true that Leon doesn't wear underwear?"

The small smile that had graced Cloud's lips dropped instantly as he blushed at the question. "W-what?"

"Well that's what all the girls in the laundry room said. Cause like, no one's ever cleaned any of his underwear." Sora pouted slightly not even noticing the blush on Cloud's face as he looked back towards the campfire and the others. "And when I asked Yuffie about it she said that it'd be better to ask you since you'd probably know."

Cloud felt his cheeks heat up even more. "W-what in the world would make you think…no never mind," Cloud shaking his head quickly before he turned Sora around pushing him off towards the others. "Just go to bed now."

"Ok ok, I'm going," Sora said pouting. "It was only a simple question."

"Just forget we talked about this," Cloud said wishing he could just bury himself in the dirt and die. What would make Yuffie think he knew something like that? That just seemed wrong on so many levels. Why would he care if Leon wore underwear or not? It wasn't like it was hurting him any.

(_They make my chafe. That's why I don't wear them.)_

Cloud shook his head of the memory. So what they had been training together and when they went to change clothes, Leon ended up showing off his nice sexy bare butt. It wasn't like Cloud cared about that plush little rump. After all, he didn't have feelings for Leon or anything. He just admired the other's perfect body-crap! His skills, he meant his perfect skills!

_Damn…I'm going to bed.

* * *

_

"Kairi! Kairi!"

"Tidus? Selphie? What's wrong?" Kairi sat up from the makeshift bed, looking over as her friends stopped in front of her, worried looks on their faces. She glanced to the side expecting to find Riku and Sora but she didn't see either one of her. A tension seemed to feel her body as she frowned slightly. Where could they have gotten off to without her?

"It's about Riku and Sora," Tidus said quietly, glancing around before he leaned in closer to whisper to her. "I heard they left the castle with Yuffie, Leon, and Cloud. I think they went on another mission or something."

"No that can't be right, silly," Selphie said slapping the back of Tidus's head. "Riku isn't a soldier, remember? Besides, the king was furious about it when he found out. He even sent some guards out after them."

"Oh my, really?" Kairi asked, then frowned looking over at Sora's bed. "Why would they leave? Especially now when those things are wondering around attacking people."

Tidus frowned slightly and rubbed at his chin. "It's a bit weird but we haven't seen any of those things since last night."

"Oh how would you know?" Selphie asked as she stuck her tongue out at him. "You were hiding behind Seifer the whole time, remember?"

"Hey I was helping, you know," Tidus replied as he folded his arms giving her a glare. "Heck, Seifer was the one hiding behind me if you ask me. I could have taken care of those monsters with my hands behind my back!"

"What did you say you little shrimp?"

"Yikes!"

"Ah!" Both of the teens turned around quickly. "S-S-S-S-Seifer! Um…w-w-we were just…um…checking up on everyone! Right Tidus?"

"Uh…y-yeah, gotta go!" Grabbing Selphie's hand, Tidus pulled running off quickly and dragging her right behind him.

Kairi frowned watching both of her friends running away before she looked up at Seifer. The other gave a frustrated sigh as he rubbed at the side of his head.

"Kids…what a pain." He frowned slightly.

"Is it true?" Kairi said as Seifer turned his attention to her. "Is it true that Sora and Riku are gone?"

"Gone like the wind," Seifer said resting a hand on his hips as he looked down at her frowning. "Looks like they knew exactly what they were doing, though it was pretty stupid to leave with all this stuff going on."

"Oh…"Kairi looked down at her hands unable to push away her feelings of worry. Riku had barely survived last night. He shouldn't have even been out of bed. But he ran off without another thought. And Sora was just as bad not even bothering to tell her what was going on. A part of her knew they were doing this for her safety but…she felt strange being left out. The three of them always stuck together…but ever since she learned about Riku's feelings for Sora…it was like they were in competition for him. And she didn't want it to be like that…she didn't want there to be something to split them up nor did she want anyone to be left behind.

_But I did get left behind, didn't I?_

"They're fine," Seifer said suddenly drawing Kairi's attention back to him in confusion. He looked down at her then looked to the side, his face tinted red slightly as he tried not to show he cared. "I said…they're fine. Both Leon and Cloud are with them. If anything, they're in the best of hands. So stop crying, ok?"

Kairi blinked her eyes just staring up at him for a moment before a smile lifted to her lips as she reached up to wipe away her tears with the back of a hand. "Yeah. You're right…they're big boys. They can take care of themselves." She stood to her feet brushing at her clothes as she looked up at him. "Thank you Seifer."

"What?" Seifer said, annoyance clouding his voice though the tint of red just grew more. "I-It's not like I care or anything. I'm just giving you the facts, that's all. So quit looking all sad or you'll just make everyone else feel sad too." Turning away he walked off mumbling something about annoying girls and stupid boys with spiky hair.

Kairi smiled watching him walk away, knowing that he meant well even if he didn't sound like he did. Closing her eyes she rested her hand over her chest, hoping and praying that both Riku and Sora were ok. She didn't know what she'd do if either one of them got hurt.

_Sora…Riku…please come home soon.

* * *

_

"I have a mission for the four of you," Xenmas said, not bothering to turn around and look at the four Organization members as he stared out the window to his room, his hands behind his back. The moon was bright out tonight, giving him thought that tonight would be a good night. Everything would be going according to his plans. "You will be going to Radiant Garden, as spies for me. You will be my entourage."

"But why the four of us, Superior?" Demyx asked, as Xenmas turned around slowly to look at them. Being the newer members of Organization, this would be a good test of loyalty. But it wasn't just that, these four were the only ones that looked like they wouldn't pose a major threat to an anxious kingdom. Everyone else would be either too antisocial or too gruff looking to pass it off. And of course, Xigbar's eagerness for action wouldn't have done much good either.

"You four will be playing the part of a four man, or three man one woman, traveling caravan. You will do tricks and put on performances for money and to gain the trust of the people. And while you are at it, you will also surround the people with darkness."

"Couldn't we have just sent some of the heartless to do that?" Larxene said, folding her arms as she looked at Xenmas.

"Yes, but there is another objective. It is not just for the keyblade master's friends, but there is one particular person, a girl, that I want you to sway with the darkness. If we have her in our grasp, he will come to get her, and his light will then belong to us. You four are the only ones that can pull this off. I will be relying on you to get the job done."

"And when do we leave for this, exactly?" Marluxia asked frowning slightly. "Shouldn't Axel and Roxas be going as well? Especially Axel since he's so friendly and all."

"Roxas looks too much like Sora that the people may suspect something is up. After his little stunt earlier, the girl would know it was him and would alert the others. No, we need Roxas to stay out of this. As for Axel…don't worry about Axel."

"Then we will be on our way," Luxord said quickly, deciding this was his mission and he might as well get to it.

"Good. Report to me as much as possible without drawing suspicion to yourselves."

"Yes, Superior," they all said before the darkness surrounded them and they disappeared.

* * *

"We made it!" Sora yelled out happily, smiling at his little group. "Thank goodness we don't have to do anymore walking!"

"Well someone's being a little lazy," Riku said as he chuckled folding his arms.

"I am not!" Sora replied sticking his tongue out at the other prince. "It's just we've been walking all day and I'm tired. Even my hair's starting to droop!" He reached up seeing one of his spikes dangling in front of his eyes and sighed. He worked so hard to make those spikes stay up.

_Thanks a lot, Leon. Now I'll have to fix it up all over again._

"You're acting like a girl," Leon said as he walked by giving Sora that "stop complaining" look. "Now quit whining and get moving. We're still not in the clear yet."

"Yeah yeah, I know I know." Grumbling under his breath, Sora waited until Riku had made it up to where he was before he started walking again taking comfort in being beside his best friend. He was glad that Riku wasn't still mad at him about keeping the whole thing a secret. In fact, the two of them were acting like it'd never happened.

_It's not like it was my fault anyway. I wanted to tell him…._

Yet King Ansem had forbid it saying that it'd only cause Riku to get involved. That part seemed true since now Riku was being threatened almost as much as Sora was. But for one reason or another, Sora actually felt…kind of glad Riku was involved. It meant the two of them got to be together for a little longer before Riku got shipped off to get married to some random girl who could care less about him.

_Why does he have to get married anyway? He's perfectly fine just the way he is!_

"What are you thinking about?" Riku asked beside him, eyes trained on him.

"Huh?" Sora blinked his eyes and shook his head like he was trying to get rid of his thoughts. "N-nothing…just um…wondering how Kairi and the others are doing?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Riku said giving him a companionable smile as he rested his hand on his shoulder, not noticing how the younger boy tensed up slightly at the contact. "Seifer's there to take care of them and Cid too."

"Cid?" Sora frowned slightly. "You sure about that? He's pretty old and kind of cra…ok yeah, maybe you're right." Sora gave out a little laugh. "I forgot how insane he can be when he's mad."

"Yeah, he's pretty insane but he really does come up with some good ideas for the kingdom." Riku frowned slightly. "And I know Seifer can be a bit of a butthead at times, but he'd still protect the people with his life before he let any one of those guys in black get to them."

"Yeah Seifer's taught me a few things too," Yuffie joined in on the other side of Riku giggling slightly. "I think he's just putting on. He does all that tough macho talk to try and look cool but really he's just a puppy dog on the inside."

"He is actually in consideration to become a captain," Leon said as he kept walking up ahead with Cloud. "He just needs to work on his temper a bit more…otherwise, I think he may well be ready for it."

"But he just got promoted to a soldier's status recently, didn't he?" Sora asked looking at the back of Leon's head. "Can he really become a captain just that fast? He's like, only a few years older than me."

"Being promoted to a high position like captain, commander, or general, doesn't just happen," Cloud said obviously going from experience. "It could take months before a decision is made."

"Oh…" Sora blinked then grinned as he pointed a finger at himself. "So that means I can become a captain too someday, huh?"

"Well if you want to give up your title as a prince, then I guess so," Riku said chuckling softly under his breath when he saw the pout surface on Sora's face. "But if you really want to work under me so badly then be my gue…wow…." Sora glanced over when Riku stopped talking and, seeing his eyes were looking somewhere else, turns his eyes to see what Riku was looking at. "This place is huge. So this is where you used to live?"

"Uh…yeah," Sora smiled softly turning and looking at him again. "Yeah, this was my home even though I don't remember it." His smile saddened as he glanced around wishing he could remember everything…or at least remember his mom and dad. But at least he had Cloud there to tell him everything. Maybe when they got to the Magic Kingdom, he could ask Cloud more about it. Maybe Cloud would be willing to tell him more, about his family, about his kingdom.

"Come with me," Cloud said as he moved heading for the steps leaving everyone to stare after him before following. "The portal to Magic Kingdom is in the king's chamber. If I'm right, because Sora is of the royal blood, he should be able to open it."

"I get to see my mom and dad's room?!" Sora asked, his eyes lighting up.

"The portal was always kept in the king's room incase of emergencies." Cloud frowned after he said that, his steps hesitating for a moment before he went on up the steps heading down the long white hallway. "In fact, I don't know why the portal didn't open when that attack happened. Something must have been blocking it."

"Like what?" Sora asked curiously, not noticing the suspicious look Leon had directed at Cloud's back.

"Like, for instance, the darkness. It's possible that the darkness might have blocked it though…that wouldn't make much sense." Cloud rubbed a hand against his chin, the frown not leaving his lips for a moment. "In a kingdom of light, darkness should not have been able to penetrate it so easily. That means that someone must have done something to cause the portal not to open."

"And how does the portal open, Cloudy," Yuffie said from her spot beside Sora as they stopped in front of a door.

"Well the keyblade for one is used. That'd be the main way to open the portal. Also, if he's been contacted, the king of Magic Kingdom could have opened it." Cloud frowned again not really wanting to think about it. "But I suppose the king just never…." He shook his head as he turned opening the door. "Let's get moving."

"He's right," Leon said as he followed Cloud inside. "We don't have time for this right now. Let's get to safety in the present before we worry about the past and future."

"Yes sir, Mr. Squalinator," Yuffie said giving a pout as she followed him inside with the others.

"It's a bit empty," Cloud commented as he looked around the huge room, noticing the bed at the center of the room seemingly untouched for several years. "I had King Mickey send some people over to collect a few items for safe keeping. It'll give you a better understanding of your heritage," he said as he turned his eyes towards Sora. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready as I'll ever be," Sora said swallowing before he puffed his chest out feeling like the world depended on him. And maybe it did depend on him. "Just tell me what to do?"

"You see that door over there?" The second in command pointed to the door just to the right of them. "Use the keyblade to unlock the door."

"Eh?"

"That's the door that'll lead us to the Magic Kingdom?" Riku asked, frowning as he looked at the door skeptically.

"Not to be mean, but that looks like a closet," Yuffie added in, her nose twisted up slightly. Leon didn't say anything, but the look on his face said he agreed with the other two.

"The keyblade isn't just for fighting the darkness," Cloud said as he walked over to the door resting a hand against it. "It can unlock doors, whether just a simple closet door or a door to another world, it'll unlock it."

_Yeah I know the whole unlocking doors thing but….wait…did he just say-_

"To another world?!" That got Sora's attention. Was it possible he could go see other worlds? He knew magic existed, he'd seen Merlin use it before, but even he didn't know about this whole another world business. He might as well give it a try. Besides, it wasn't like it could hurt anything, right? "Alright, I'll give it a shot!" Grinning like a fool, Sora held out his hand, the keyblade instantly showing up like a good pet. Feeling cool, he posed, holding the keyblade out in front of him with both hands as he pointed it up towards the door and waited.

And…nothing happened.

"Uh…Sora?"

"Wait, I got it! Just give me a second." Sora frowned and shook the keyblade. "Work you stupid thing. Ah!" Instantly, a light shoot free from the keyblade hitting into the keyhole on the door, a click being heard before the room started to shake. "Whoa!"

_W-What did I just do?!_

"What's happening?!" Yuffie yelled out clinging onto Riku as she almost lost her balance.

"The door's unlocked!" Cloud yelled out making sure he as heard as he held onto the wall beside him to keep from falling. "The door to Magic Kingdom is opening up now!"

"You should give us a warning next time!" Leon glared at Cloud as he held onto the doorframe to the room starting to feel sick from all the shaking.

"So cool!" Sora seemed like the only one who wasn't upset that all of this was happening, besides Cloud. It must be something to do with these Kingdom Hearters. "Hey, I see a light!"

_Oh man, this is gonna be so awesome!_

"And that's all you're going to see." The five members turned around quickly, finding a man standing behind them, wearing a black cloak.

"Not another one!" Sora yelled out as he quickly held his keyblade up like a sword, prepared to attack if necessary.

"Who are you?!" Riku glared as he pulled out his sword, just as the other three pulled their weapons free.

"Don't worry about who we are," the man said as he pulled his hood back revealing thick black hair curled up in dreadlocks. "You should be more worried about your lives."

"Always trying to steal the cool lines, aren't you?" Another voice said, everyone but the man turning towards it.

"You!" Sora stared at the man in shock before he growled gripping his keyblade harder. "You're the guy from before."

"Wow, so glad you remember me, kid," Xigbar said grinning as he pulled free his weapons holding them in his hand. "I feel honored, little dude."

"Don't talk to me like you know me!" A hand lifted up in front of Sora as Leon stood in front of him glaring at the two males.

"What do you want with us?" he asked, his gunblade held securely in his hand. Though he and Cloud looked calm, it was clear they were ready for the battle. Riku was ready too, his sword in his hand as he stood beside Sora, looking like he was ready to protect him.

_Just like before…I can't let that happen again!_

"We just want the kids," a third voice a said appearing from behind the dreadlocks man and Xigbar. Sora actually stepped back when he saw the man. The guy was huge! It was like looking up at a giant he was so tall and so buff looking!

_I don't think I could take him even if I tried!_

"Nothing more," the man continued as a giant sword appeared in front of him before slamming into the ground making the room shake temporarily. Three to five. Even if the odds were still in their favor, Sora felt like these two guys were equal that of six guys, if not more. He knew Xigbar was fast with those guns, but since he hadn't been in a real battle with him yet, he wasn't really sure what his fighting style was like. The big guy looked like he could chop ten men down at once considering how huge his sword was. And the man with he dreadlocks hadn't even bothered to take out his weapons if he had anyway.

_Organization XIII…they sure do have a lot of tough guys._

"Let us take care of this quickly," the man with the weird facial hair said as he went over to the bed taking a seat. "I do not wish to stay in this place long."

"Being lazy already? We just got here, man," Xigbar said chuckling slightly as he looked at his five opponents, a sadistic grin appearing on his lips. "Well you heard the man, let's get this party moving already!"

TBC….

Eh…decided to stop it here. Mostly because I don't feel like fighting with the whole, it's not gonna take more than 7 to 8 pages thing. And I'm too lazy to split it in half to make another chapter. And because I like cliffhangers. Oh yes I will definitely have fun playing with Marluxia and the group. And Seifer, we can't forget Seifer. Guess they didn't make it to Magic Kingdom after all. Yay for random encounters.

Leon: I disagree….


	10. Princely Garbs 10

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: I finally stopped being lazy for a second! Go me!

Princely Garbs 10

"We're not going to be able to handle them all right now," Leon said as he looked over at Cloud, the two of them standing in front of Riku and Sora with their weapons drawn. "Our best bet would be to get through the door and escape."

"You're right," Cloud said frowning slightly. Running away from his home again, would this always be his fate? He glanced back at the door then looked at Sora. "You three, get through the door now."

"Huh? Uh…r-right!" Sora turned reaching down and grabbing Riku's hand. "Come on, Riku."

"Yeah, sure." Riku said frowning back at the men before he ran off with Sora heading into the door.

"Yuffie, go with them," Leon said not taking his eyes off the men.

"Huh?!" Yuffie's eyes widened in confusion before she shook her head. "B-but-!"

"Just do it! We'll follow in a minute."

"Um…o-ok." Yuffie ran off starting to follow the princes. "But you guys better not take long!"

"Dude, it looks like our targets are getting away," Xigbar said grinning like a fool as he watched them before he stuck his two weapons together and looked through the scope, going into sniper mode. "Guess I'll take one of them out." He aimed at Yuffie, the grin still on his face as he squeezed the trigger.

Ding!

Leon glared at Xigbar as the shot from Xigbar's gun fell to the ground having been blocked by his gunblade. He didn't put it down yet, still having it held in front of him with both hands, only his eyes being seen. "I won't let you hurt them," he said, barely registering Cloud coming to stand beside him.

"Heh. Who said anything about me hurting just them?" Pulling the two guns apart from each other, Xigbar crossed his arms over each pointing one gun at Leon while the other pointed at Cloud. "You should have just let them stay. That way you would have stayed alive longer."

"Let us not take long with this," the big guy said as he came to stand beside Xigbar, a large tomahawk appearing in front of him and slamming into the ground shaking the whole castle.

"Cloud," Leon said in a whisper, not taking his eyes from the enemy as he repositioned his sword. "How long would it take for Sora to lock the door again?"

"I don't know," Cloud whispered in response, a frown appearing on his face. "It depends on how good Sora is with the keyblade."

"I'll stay here and stall them. You hurry up and go through. Tell Sora to lock the door."

"Are you insane?!" Cloud spat out before he forced his voice to lower. "If I leave you here now, there's no way you'll survive against these guys."

"Remember our duty," Leon said glancing over at him. "It's our job to ensure that both princes remain safe from harm. I'll be counting on you to take care of them so don't let me down."

"Leon…but…"

"Go, Cloud!" Leon yelled out, his gunblade held tightly in his hand as he ran towards the two organization members.

"Leon!" Closing his eyes for a second, Cloud clenched his hand tightly around the hilt of his sword before he turned running swiftly towards the door. This was insane. There was no way Leon would be able to survive against those guys. Why couldn't he have just come with them?!

_Leon…what are you thinking doing something stupid like this?_

Cloud stopped by the door and turned around frowning as he watched Leon running towards the two guys. The brunet didn't stop, even when Xigbar shot his guns at him, hitting him in several parts of the body with his shots. He didn't stop as blood started to pool from his wounds, dripping down on the castle floor, bringing back memories Cloud wished he hadn't remembered. Swinging his sword, Leon aimed at the sniper but was too slow as the other easily dodged and held a gun against Leon's back pulling the trigger.

Cloud couldn't move his body, his eyes widening as the shot reached his ears. He saw Leon's eyes shoot open in pain, blood shooting from his lips as he fell forward falling onto the ground. Cloud couldn't bring himself to move, his mouth gaped open as he stared at the prone body lying on the floor, blood starting to pool beneath it.

_Is…is he…n-no…he can't…he just can't be…._

"Heh. Well that was easy," Xigbar said as he took a foot kicking Leon's body hard sending him flying to land in a crumpled state by the bed. The male with the dread locks didn't even flinch as he stared down at the body. "I think I got him right in the heart too."

"We still have the other one to take care of," Lexaeus said as he looked over towards Cloud who seemed frozen to the spot.

"I can take care of that one too," Xigbar replied, still holding his precious guns.

…_I can't stay here…I have to protect…._

He tried not to think about what happened, forced himself to think about the task at hand as he turned running into the portal, his hand grabbing and pulling the door closed behind him. "We have to go," Cloud said as soon as he got through, his eyes not meeting any of them. "Sora, lock the door."

"Huh?" Sora blinked, looking at Cloud. "But…what about Leon?"

"He said he was going back to report to the king," Cloud lied, his eyes looking down towards the ground, trying to figure out why there was a blur to them. "For now, lock the door. We can't let anyone else get through."

"Um…ok then." Sora frowned then turned around pointing his keyblade towards the door. Instantly a shot flew out hitting into the keyhole, the door locking up with a click. That had been a lot faster than Cloud would have thought. Apparently, Sora was learning to control the keyblade's power. "Ok, it's locked." He gave a little sigh. "I can't believe Leon just left like that though."

Cloud barely gave a nod, though he did feel wetness running down his cheek. Wait…was he…crying? He reached up touching his eyes and pulling his fingers back seeing the wetness on them. No, this wasn't the way a soldier was supposed to act. Especially when he was supposed to be leading the group of them. Taking his arm he quickly wiped it over his eyes removing the wetness as much as he could. Leon wouldn't want him crying over something like this.

_Leon…rest in peace…_

"Cloud, are you ok?" It was Yuffie speaking, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. Out of habit he looked over at her then looked away, mad at himself for showing such weakness. He knew she saw the wetness around his eyes but he didn't mention it to her, instead starting to walk off heading down the hill towards the Magic Kingdom that stood tall in front of them.

"I'm fine. Let's get going. We can't keep his majesty waiting."

"You mean he already knows we're here?" Riku asked, eyes watching Cloud suspiciously.

"Yes. The king knows about everything that happens in his kingdom."

"Cool! I can't wait to meet him!" Sora said happily, oblivious to the little smile Riku sent his way. "I hope he's not an old fart."

"Well…he is old," Cloud said, realizing he was doing what he could to keep his mind off the inevitable thought. "But you probably won't think that when you see him."

"Yeah right. I'll wait to be the judge of that."

…_He's picked up a lot from Leon._

Cloud shook his head from that thought, mentally praying that Leon was somehow still alive. He was confused by the feeling, wondering if it had anything to do with those weird feelings he'd had around Leon in the past. This feeling was different though. He felt as though…a part of him went missing when Leon…

_Let's not think on that…not right now…._

In fact, he was hoping King Mickey could help him out with that. In fact, maybe if Leon wasn't dead yet and those guys were gone then maybe…maybe they could get back and do something to heal him. Cloud's speed quickened as he walked faster, with a new determination in mind.

* * *

"Who are you?! State your business here!"

"We are just simply a traveling caravan," Luxord said, giving a slight bow as he rested a hand against his chest. "If we're interrupting something important here, please accept our apology."

"No, it's fine," the guard said frowning slightly as he looked at the four of them, each carrying their own packs with them. "A lot has been going on lately so you'll have to excuse us if we're a bit suspicious right now."

"What been happening?" Demyx asked, coming to stand beside Luxord as he stared up at the guard looking far too cute and innocent to be of any harm to anyone. This was the reason Xemnas had made special note to include Demyx on this trip. Apparently, Demyx was the best when it came to pretending to have his emotions. He was able to easily lull the enemy to lose their guard, especially since they didn't think he could hurt a fly.

_But I know that's not true._

He wouldn't say they had no emotions, just more like they lost touch with them. The darkness that surrounded them had separated their hearts from their bodies. In other worlds, the darkness was what was keeping them from feeling anything. They were almost like empty shells, except they were able to still pretend the emotions were there, each of them giving out their own unique personality.

"We've been seeing weird creatures showing up in the city," the guard said as he glanced around almost like he was still seeing them. "I suggest you leave here as soon as possible."

"Weird creatures you say?" Luxord continued, eyebrow lifting in interest. "What kind of creatures?"

"Well they looked human but…" he shook his head as if trying not to remember, his hand unconsciously resting on the sword. Maybe converting this city would be easier than he'd thought. The people here were still scared and frightened by what had happened. "They were…monsters. Glowing yellow eyes, skin as dark as night, and bodies that moved like a being possessed by the devil."

"Monsters, you say?" Luxord asked, though his glancing eyes caught his three colleagues' attention. Of course they knew about the monsters. They were the ones who created them after all. "Well we will definitely keep our eyes open for such hideous beast."

"But right now we're kinda having a problem finding a place to stay for the night," Demyx cut in, giving a sheepish grin as he looked at the guard, staring at him with innocent eyes. Even being part of the organization, Luxord was sometimes confused by Demyx's acting skills when it came to thinking he had a heart. "All the hotels are booked in the city and we really don't have anywhere else we can go."

"Yeah," Larxene cut in, folding her arms. "And being told there are monsters in the city really doesn't set us at ease either."

"Well…" the guard glanced over to another guard who looked at him and shrugged his shoulders before he looked at the newcomers.

"I'm sure we can find them a place to stay in the palace," Aerith said smiling as she came out the door giving a small nod of her head. "My name is Aerith. I am the palace healer."

"Nice to meet you," Demyx said smiling as he came closer and held out a hand . The healer gently took it shaking his hand in return. "My name's Demyx. This is Luxord," Demyx continued gesturing back behind him towards Luxord, "Marluxia and Larxene. We'll try to stay out of the way."

"Oh no," Aerith said quickly shaking her head. "Please, stay as long as you need. I'm not sure when the danger will be over, but it's wiser for everyone to stay indoors right now. I'm sure King Ansem won't mind some guest in the palace."

"That'd be great! I mean if you don't mind," Demyx added in quickly and giving off a light blush as if embarrassed to be so excited.

"King Ansem is very protective of his people," Aerith said giggling slightly at Demyx's outburst. Marluxia seemed to just roll his eyes at that. "As long as you're in our kingdom, you're one of us." She smiled giving them a quick bow. "Please make yourselves at home. I'll have a room ready for you in a jiffy." And she was off, heading back inside not even looking behind her.

"Well that was…interesting," Luxord said glancing over at Demyx.

"More like annoying," Marluxia replied frowning as he folded his arms before lowering his voice making sure only they heard him. "At least this will make the job easier and faster."

"It'll only a matter of time before we sway them to the darkness," Larxene added in, her hand lifting to lightly poke at her hair. "So let's hurry up and get back. I don't want to miss the show."

"You mean with Axel and Roxas? Or with Roxas and the keywelder? Or the keywelder and the prince?" Demyx blinked before he smiled happily clapping his hand. "Oh now that I think about it, all of that sounds fun! Let's hurry so we can get back!" Yes…Demyx was a natural at this. Maybe that's why he was part of the organization, maybe Xenmas foresaw his uses. If anyone could blend in with the heart owners, it was Demyx.

"I have to agree," Luxord said putting his focus back on track as he lead the group inside. "This shouldn't take more than a day. Be sure to earn their trust. Just this kingdom alone can strengthen our force greatly. Let's stay focused and remember our duties."

* * *

They made it into the palace with no problems, despite Cloud's persistent rushing. He was getting worse than Leon! What was with his attitude anyway? He hadn't spoken a word since they'd gotten to the other side. Did he and Leon have another fight again?

_I hope not. Even if Leon can be a meany butthead sometimes._

Sora couldn't help thinking he looked sad though. What had happened earlier that they weren't being told about? He doubted those three guys just let Leon go without a fight. What if they followed him and -gulp- killed him? No, that couldn't be it. Cloud wouldn't have left Leon alone to fight them….would he? He had to remember that Cloud was a soldier…but would he really abandon his comrades like that?

The thoughts were chased away from his head almost instantly as he stared up at the giant castle standing in front of him. The place was huge, almost as big as Kingdom Hearts! It was a strangely light blue color and almost looked like something a kid would have come up with. Speaking of kids, standing in front of the door to the palace were two small boys, the two looking so alike they had to be twins or brothers with their cute little light brown hair. The only difference between the two was that the kid on the left had a slightly blush red nose and a gap between his two front teeth. They looked like they were probably about four or five making Sora wonder where their parents were. Should kids really be out here by themselves? Especially since it was starting to get late. Maybe they were homeless or loss or something.

_We should help them._

"This is it," Cloud said quietly, his first words since his speed torrent. And damn it if he didn't sound out of breath or tired in the least. Why did the tough guys always have to be so…tough. Still trying to catch his own breath, Sora glanced over at Riku smiling slightly as he noticed the other had been staring at him. He tried to blame the heat in his cheeks on the fact that he was tired. Riku probably thought he was a weakling. He was barely able to keep up with the three of them while they were walking. It didn't help any that he was the smallest one in their group either. "This is Magic Kingdom."

"Whoaaa," one of the kids said, the one without the glowing nose, as he looked up at Cloud. "Is that you Cloud?"

"Hey it is!" The other one said starting to jump up and down in excitement. "By golly, it's been a long time! Where have you been?!"

…_He knows these two?_

"Sorry. I was busy looking for the prince." Cloud gave a fond smile as he glanced back at Sora. "And I found him." Ok, so he didn't know why that look actually made him blush in embarrassment as he tried to hide his face.

"You're joking, right?" The little red nosed boy said, his eyes wide as he came over walking around Sora, Sora's eyes watching him curiously.

"Well he does resemble him," the other boy said starting to walk in the opposite way around his brother, his nose sniffing at the air. "And he does smell like him."

_Resemble? Smell? ….These kids are crazy…._

"And that messy hair…" the red nosed by blinked before a light seemed to pop up on his head. "By golly, it is him!"

"E-excuse me?" Sora asked the two kids before sending a glare at Yuffie and Riku noticing the two were laughing at him. "H-have we met?"

"Yep, sure have," the kid with the nose said, smiling goofy as he rubbed under his nose with a finger. "When you were reaaaaaaally itty bitty." He held his fingers barely apart causing Sora to squint and lean close.

"You dummy!" the other boy yelled as he punched his brother in the back of the head.

"OW!"

"I'm Chip," the slightly miffed boy said before pointing a thumb at his bro. "And this is Dale."

"They used to visit the palace a lot when you were little," Cloud said walking over and ruffle Sora's hair slightly.

Pouting slightly, Sora reached up to fix his hair. He paused in the middle of doing it, registering what Cloud just said to him. "When…I was little?"

Cloud nodded his head. "That's right.?"

"But…"Sora frowned then. "But they're only four right? How could they have been around when I was little? They're only kids themselves!"

"We're chipmunks!" Dale yelled out puffing his cheeks slightly.

"…Eh?"

"Just because we look like this in human form doesn't mean we're four years old." Chip said folding his arms matter of fact like. "In fact, I knew your dad when he was little."

"…No way…." Sora's eyes widened as he thought about it. "Then….just how old are you?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys," Cloud said before he turned his attention to Chip and Dale. "Could you tell King Mickey that I'm here to see him?" He frowned slightly glancing over at Sora before kneeling down whispering to the two boys quickly. Sora stared curiously then glanced over at Riku frowning slightly when he saw the suspicious look in Riku's eyes. Lately, both he and Leon had stared at Cloud like that. Was there something going on that he didn't know about? It made him a bit jealous to be the only one left out of the loop…well…considering that he was a prince and all. He had to admit, he sure didn't feel like a prince.

The two jumped slightly at the whisper and glanced at each other before they looked up at Cloud again. "Ok, we'll do it. It'll only take a sec."

"I'll go talk to the King," Chip said as he looked back at Cloud and the others. "You guys, follow me."

"Then I'll go on ahead and talk to Donald and Goofy," Dale said giving them the A-OK sign. Sora could swear he'd only blinked his eyes for a second, but when he looked again, the small boy was replaced with a cute little chipmunk with a bright red nose and bucked teeth. In fact…he resembled that kid whom…..

_Did…did he just…._

Sora found himself staring as the little chipmunk ran off inside the building. What kind of strange world was this when humans could turn into animals in the blink of an eye?

_Wonder if I could-_

"Let's get going!" Chip said, causing Sora to do a double take as he saw the little chipmunk with the black nose staring up at him…and talking.

"D-Did he just…"

"It'll be explained later," Cloud said looking at the three of them. "For the moment just trust me." He looked down at Chip. "Lead the way."

Chip stood up saluting him. "You got it!" Turning, he quickly ran off going inside, the others moving quickly to keep up. If these two kids could turn into little chipmunk…Sora wondered what kind of creature this King Mickey had to be.

_I bet he's a lion! Or a tiger! Or a huge bear! Oh man, I can't wait to see!_

He was psyched up again, but blushed when he glanced over seeing Riku staring at him again, a smirk on his lips. "What?"

"Oh nothing," Riku said as he started walking. "I didn't know you'd be so excited about a strange place like this."

"I'm not…" Sora pouted.

Riku seemed to hesitate before he looked forward again. "It's…cute," he said causing Sora's head to turn sharply to look at him. He didn't look in return, though there was a slight of red in his cheeks. The redness caused Sora's own cheeks to glow as he stared at him biting at his lips slightly. Had he heard that right? Did Riku just call him cute?

_I-I'm not cute…am I?_

He would have preferred to think of himself as hot…or something. Girls liked hot guys. But…hearing Riku call him cute….why was it affecting him so much?

"Um…t-thanks," Sora said softly, suddenly feeling shy around his best friend. It brought to memory the time Riku had kissed his cheek like it was nothing…and how good it had felt. Subconsciously, Sora brought his hand up gently rubbing at the cheek Riku had kissed.

_I'm…cute?_

"Ok guys, here it is!" Chip stopped in front of the door, his form changing back to the little boy as if it were nothing as he reached out opening the door. "Be on your best behavior. I don't want to have to come in there and pound you!" He gave a slightly intimidating look, or as intimidating as it was going to get for a four-year-old looking boy, before he stepped to the side to let them enter. "Go ahead."

Cloud didn't give any hesitations, but Sora did swallowing slightly as he followed Cloud inside, the taller man blocking his view since he was right in front of him. He was too nervous to bring himself to move to the side to see though. The only thought that kept running through his mind was, he's a bear, he's got to be a bear!

Cloud stopped suddenly, Sora almost running into him only stopping when Riku gently held an arm in front of him to stop him. Confusion ran through Sora's brain before he found himself listening to his commanding off- er, his bodyguard's voice. "It is an honor to be in your graces, your majesty." Cloud bowed after saying the words then kneeled on the ground, Yuffie quickly following suit from the other side of Sora as well as Riku, used to doing this when visiting other kingdoms. Sora was the only left standing as he glanced around quickly at a loss. He suddenly found his eyes looking up and blinked finding a tall male standing in front of the throne with a kind smile as he looked down at the keyblader.

"Welcome to Magic Kingdom, Sora" the king said as he started to come down from the throne. "I'm King Mickey." And he looked cool…he looked like what Sora would think a king would look like. He was calm, cool, and his black hair was falling over his eyes in a startling nice way, enough to make Sora actually stare up at him in awe with a slight blush.

…_He has to be black panther…or a lion…or...something cool!_

TBC…

Yes yes, It's been a loooooooooong time since I updated. I'm so lazy…this fall weather's really making it hard for me to concentrate on anything for long. Hehe, but I'll be keeping up as best I can. My annoying boss makes it a bit hard too…never much time for free time but the weekend. I so need to just get a Master's Degree and get a better job…that I can trust. Oh well, till next update!


	11. Princely Garbs 11

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Previously on Princely Garbs, stuff happened! Well ok…Leon got hurt, Sora met Mickey, and Luxord and crew are up to no good…Oh and…Mickey sounds pretty darn proper which is how he sounds in my and my friend's RP. Hehe, but I so bet that'll change quickly once he's reverted to his true form.

Princely Garbs 11

Riku frowned as he glanced over looking at Sora noticing the awed look in his eyes and the blush to his cheeks. Sora was a little bit too excited about seeing the king for Riku's taste. And just why did it have to be his luck that the King would end up being a hottie? He was sitting up there with his legs crossed, his arms resting on the armrest as he smiled, more like smirked in Riku's opinion, at them. His black hair was a bit straggly, dangling down over his eyes, which just so happened to be just as attractive. He looked like he could be some kind of panther or something. Was it possible that he'd have the grace of a panther?

_Let's hope not…_

"Welcome to Magic Kingdom, Sora. I'm King Mickey."

"Oh um…" Sora looked down blushing slightly as he played with his fingers shyly, something else Riku was taking major notice of. "Thanks. Hehe. It's nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to see you too," Mickey said as he stood up from the throne staring down at Sora as if he'd known him for years. "You've really grown into a fine young man."

"Y-You really think so?" Sora asked, looking up at him again beaming happily. "It's all thanks to King Ansem. Oh and Leon and Cloud. And all my friends!"

_And me! Why didn't you mention my name?!_

"Friendship is definitely a good power to use against the darkness," Mickey continued smiling before his eyes turned to Cloud, completely missing the glare Riku was flashing his way. He knew this wasn't such a good idea to come here. It made him glad he'd come on this journey now. He was going to have to keep a major eye on this Mickey guy, king or not. "And you haven't changed a bit, Cloud."

"Thank you, your majesty," Cloud replied as he stood up walking over to the king. "I need you to accompany me back to the door. It's…pretty urgent."

Hearing those words, a frown took the place of the smile on Mickey's face as he suddenly grew serious. "Did something happen on your way here?" Cloud leaned in whispering something quickly to the king. It made Riku frown wondering what all the secrecy was about. Cloud had to be lying about something. Maybe it had something to do with the door or Leon. There was no way Leon would have went back and left both Sora and Riku alone worlds away…or a door away…or however this crazy place worked. Something happened on the other side of that door that Cloud wasn't telling them. He'd been in a rush ever since they came through the door.

_Did he kill Leon while he was on the other side?_

"I see," Mickey said drawing Riku's attention back to him. The serious look hadn't left his face but when he turned and looked at the others in the room he gave them a smile. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'll have Chip show you to the rooms that you'll be staying in while you're here. Cloud, if you'll come with me, we have some things to discuss."

"Wait a minute," Riku interrupted, speaking his first words since setting his eyes on the handsome king. "This isn't a time for us to be sitting around doing nothing." It also wouldn't be a good idea to let Cloud out of his eyesight. "There's no telling how much danger Radiant Garden is in. We shouldn't be wasting our time like this." His eyes fastened on Cloud, his stance growing firm as he glared at the other male. "I'm going with you."

"But Prince Riku," Yuffie said walking over and resting a hand on his shoulder. "If we don't at least get some rest, then when it comes time to fight, we won't-"

"I know, I know!" Riku yelled out giving a frustrated sigh. Could the others not see what was going on in front of them?! Sora was no help either. In fact he was looking at him worriedly and more than a little upset. "Just…we can't just stand around here and do nothing while our homeland is in trouble," he said, his eyes staring into Sora's as if he was trying to explain himself to him. "And…." He paused then frowned staring down at the ground. No, he couldn't accuse Cloud of being a murder, at least not in front of Sora. Maybe he was overreacting…he'd known Cloud almost as long as he'd known Leon. Not to mention that Cloud and Leon seemed to be on pretty close terms. But there was also no way Leon would have left them alone…not unless he was either dead or….

…_Did those bastards do something to him?!_

Cloud must have picked up on where his thoughts were going as he crossed his arms thinking for a moment before he looked over at him again. "Fine. You can come with us."

Riku's head shot up quickly at the words. He hesitated for only a second before giving a brief nod. "Good. I wasn't planning on taking no for an answer."

_I'll also make you confess everything you know about what happened back there._

"Yuffie, stay here and keep an eye on Sora."

"What?! But Cloud!"

"No buts, Sora," Cloud said, frowning down at him. "Your safety is my top priority. Even if you are prince, if I have to act as a commander to make you obey then I will." His eyes turned away from the pouting Sora as he looked at Yuffie. "Yuffie, I'm counting on you to keep him safe." Riku knew that Sora wanted to protest, to complain that it wasn't fair that Riku got to go but that he didn't. And honestly, it probably wasn't fair. But there was one advantage that Riku had over Sora. He was stronger…and he was more skilled. Sora could probably hold himself if he had to fight in a battle, but considering he hadn't even used his knew weapon for battle yet, he wouldn't be ready and adjusted to using it.

_Guess I can help him train when I get back._

Riku tried not to grin at having alone training time with Sora. If he could keep the others away, it'd be perfect.

"Aye Yai, C'pn, I mean…Commander!" She saluted giving him a goofy smile as she did. Riku's eyes were on Sora at the moment. He noticed the smaller boy was staring down at the ground with his hands clenched tightly at his sides and wanted to open his mouth, to give him some reassuring words but nothing came out, nothing at all. What could he possibly say to make him feel better?

"In fact," Cloud said looking at Sora, "this would be the perfect time for you to practice summoning your keyblade. The faster you can get it to come out, the better." The small frown on Sora's face didn't go away, in fact it got worse as he refused to look up at them. The stern look on Cloud's face stayed for a second before a small smile graced his lips. "And when I get back, I have something to give you. I've been waiting until the right moment to give it to you, and I think that will be the perfect time." Cloud walked over resting his hand on top of Sora's head ruffling his hair slightly looking like a big brother taking care of his little brother. "Take care until I get back, ok?"

Sora finally looked up at the mention of getting something and smiled as he looked up at him giving him the famous cheeky grin that Riku loved so much. "Alright fine, I'll be a good soldier and do some training. But you guys better come back soon!"

"We won't take long."

"Yeah, we'll be back in no time," Riku said glancing at Cloud before he smiled at Sora. "Stay safe, ok?"

"Yeah," Sora said smiling in return. "You too, Riku."

"We better get going before it gets dark," Mickey said starting for the door, not noticing the frustrated look Riku passed at his retreating form.

Chip came over standing in front of Sora and Yuffie smiling as he wiggling his little nose for a moment before he used a finger to rub it. "Follow me! I'll take you to your rooms for tonight!" Turning quickly, he changed into his animal form, and started off leading the way for them. As Sora was walking away, he looked over his shoulder staring at them wistfully, causing Riku to smile and wave at him. Sora watched the whole time before Yuffie grabbed his hand pulling him out the door. As soon as the younger male was out of the room, the smile on Riku's face dropped quickly as he turned glaring at Cloud. He didn't care that Mickey was standing by the door waiting on them. Hell, for all he knew, Mickey was in on it too.

"Tell me what happened back there," Riku demanded as his eyes narrowed, remembering the events from earlier that day. Leon and Cloud had stayed behind after Leon's order that he, Sora, and Yuffie leave through the door. About five more minutes, Cloud came through behind them demanding Sora to close the door quickly. He didn't look at them, he didn't mention anything except saying that Leon went back to report to the king. But if those guys were as strong as Riku thought they were…there was no chance they'd just let Leon go like that. So….what happened on the other side of that door that he didn't know? What was Cloud hiding from them? Why didn't he tell them anything?

When Cloud looked away and didn't say anything, Riku lost his cool as he growled reaching out and grabbing Cloud's shirt. "As your prince, I demand answers Cloud. What happened to Leon?! You said he went back to the palace but I really doubt that. What happened today?! What happened to Leon?!"

"…Leon is de…may be…dead…." Cloud didn't look at him, his face didn't show any responses, but his body did tense as he let the words slip from his lips.

"….What?" Riku's eyes widened in shock as he let Cloud go registering the words. Dead, as in deceased, no more…no that can't be right, even if something deep down inside of him was saying it was true, that it was possible. He tried to ignore the feelings as much as he could as he turned questioning eyes on Cloud again. "Are you sure? This is Leon, he can't be dead."

"They killed him," Cloud replied, his hands clenching. "He wouldn't let me help…he just told me to run, to protect the princes. I didn't want Sora to know….but…" Cloud frowned as he looked up at him. "There is a chance he could still be alive. If we move quickly enough, maybe we can do something to help, if he hasn't bled to death yet."

_Or worse…._

"Then let's hurry up!" Riku said, heading towards the king. "We don't have all day to sit around talking."

_Even if I was the one to start it._

"You're right," Cloud said as he started following him. "Let's make sure first before we keep talking about the what ifs."

"Then let's get going," Mickey said. "I just hope my healing powers will be of some uses to you guys."

"Your majesty, we'll take any help we can get," Cloud said walking past him.

"Then I'll do whatever I can to help him. Let's just pray that he's still even alive."

_Yeah…don't die on us, Leon. You may be a pain…but we can't lose you._

* * *

Peering out the window of their bedroom on the first floor, Luxord stood with his hands behind his back watching the younger more open member of their little group outside talking and chattering with the kids like he already knew them. It hadn't even been a full day yet and Demyx was already drawing the people's hearts towards him. They were becoming so open…so trusting to the young male. Never in a million years would they suspect that he was part of the reason for the attack on their kingdom. 

"He's doing a good job, isn't he?" Luxord said as he glanced over his shoulder at Marluxia who was lying on his back on the bed behind him staring up at the ceiling. Larxene wasn't anywhere in sight, having gone to socialize with the women in the palace despite her obvious dislike of the idea. At least she was willing to do it, though given her history, she probably would have a hard time not biting someone's head off when they said something disagreeable.

"If you call playing around with a bunch of kids a job, then yes he's doing a good job of playing around." Marluxia looked over at him frowning as he sat up, reaching up to fix his hair. "Exactly how long are we supposed to stay here and baby-sit these people?"

"Until Xemnas sends someone to tell us it's time. The more trust we gain from these people, the easier it will be to put darkness in their hearts." Luxord smirked at Marluxia before he turned his eyes back outside watching Demyx starting to get into a game of tag with some of the older children. "You seem to be having luck yourself. The women here seem to have grown a liking to you and your green thumb."

"The men too I noticed," Marluxia replied, a frown showing up on his face. "But you didn't get away either, at least from the women. They're eating up that accent of yours."

"I can't help being naturally good looking," Luxord said, his eyes taking in the enjoyable smile showing up on Demyx's face. Even he wondered sometimes if the other was really claimed by the darkness. He seemed too innocent to be where they were…but he could be every bit as conniving as the rest of them, though he was more subtle about it. "But whatever the issue, we have to finish this mission flawlessly. We can't let on what's going on. I have no doubts that there are a few people that will probably be watching us closely. So be careful what you do."

_People like the King and that magician._

Demyx was hiding behind a tree and just so happened to look up before he smiled waving his hand seeing Luxord in the window nearby. Unable to help himself, Luxord smiled in return waving back at him; however, Demyx's wave didn't go undetected as the person who was 'it' in the game came up behind him tagging him.

_So much for that._

Luxord found himself chuckling lightly at the little antics Demyx was showing while trying dramatically to get out of being 'it.' If he had feelings he would have thought it was truly funny…and cute at the same time. But despite what his dark heart was saying, his body seemed to think opposite. Perhaps human expression was something the body instinctively new without needing the use of a heart to tell it to feel a certain way.

"What's so funny?"

Luxord turned around seeing Marluxia sitting up frowning at him and he shook his head still smirking as he headed for the door. "Nothing at all, my friend. Now, I have other business to attend to. Feel free to help us out whenever you get through sulking." Not even waiting for a reply, Luxord went out the room closing the door behind him. It was time to go investigate some of the head people of the household. With the two commanders out of the way, things would be a little easier. But he still had to be careful, at least until the time came.

He shuffled a pack of cards in his hands finding himself a good spot close by to the king's chambers as he gave a slight bow as a couple of lovely ladies walked by giggling to themselves and eyeing him. This would be a good place to start up a few parlor tricks. And in the mean time, he could keep an eye out and gather as much information as he needed.

* * *

"This is it," Cloud said as he stopped by the door looking at Mickey. "Can you unlock it?" 

"Of course I can," Mickey said smiling as he held out his hand, a keyblade showing up in it.

Riku stared at him, awed as the keyblade glistened in the lowering sunlight. "I-Isn't that the-"

"A keyblade," Cloud finished off. "The king has the ability to wield it as well."

"…He does, huh?" Riku frowned slightly. "I thought Sora was the only one who could, well him and that Roxas guy."

"You weren't there when I told Sora. A keyblade chooses its wielder. I can only guess that the chosen one has a strong amount of light in his heart. But even the old king didn't really know how it worked."

"That's something that's still a mystery to us all," Mickey said as he turned around pointing the keyblade directly at the keyhole. "Be prepared for the worst. They might still be waiting on us." At a nod from the other two, Mickey concentrated, a light shooting out quickly and unlocking the door to Kingdom Hearts. The rumbling from last time didn't happen this time as the door just opened up blinding them in a bright light. Cloud frowned slightly holding onto his sword as he started through. He squinted waiting for his eyes to adjust as he glanced around. Things were starting to take form. The blood was still a puddle on the floor, left exactly where he'd seen it…exactly where Leon had fallen blooding rapidly from the open wound. But Leon wasn't there…but where…..?

"There's something on the bed," Riku said pointing off to the side.

"Hm?" Cloud turned his eyes to look at the bed before they widened, the sword slipping free from his hand falling hard against the floor. "Leon?"

"So he's still here," Mickey said frowning slightly as he looked around cautiously. If he was still here then there was a big chance that the enemy was too, probably using him as bait. Normally, that thought would have crossed Cloud's mind before anything else, but seeing the prone body lying on the bed, he didn't listen to reason as he walked over, stumbling slightly before he stopped beside the bed looking down at the body. At first glance, he would have thought Leon was dead, but further study showed he was still breathing. Someone had even taken the time to bandage his wounds, his black jacket left wide open and his white shirt missing.

Mickey stopped on the other side of the bed, resting his hands on Leon's chest and closing his eyes, a blue like coming out as he quietly said the word, "Cure," the blue light sparkling before dying down. "There," he said opening his eyes and looking up at him. "It's not much but, I don't want to take up too much time to cast a huge healing spell. We need to get him back."

"And we better get going," Riku said as he glanced around frowning. "If we stay here, those guys might come back."

Cloud nodded his head, easily picking Leon up in his arms as he turned heading towards the door. Still, something really didn't real quite right. He was grateful Leon was alive but…why was Leon alive? Why did he feel like something was wrong? Maybe it was the fact that the enemy had bothered to patch Leon up? Were they waiting right now to jump out and try to kill them?

_I feel uneasy…_

And yet they passed through the door without a problem, Mickey only pausing to lock the door to Kingdom Hearts before they kept moving. It'd been a simple retrieval mission, no one was hurt except the person they were saving. Leon was pale, but soon they'd get back and they could have the healers see to him. He'd be up and moving in no time. Then he could go back to his usual ordering around and glaring.

_Then he can go back to being…Leon…._

"You're smiling," Riku said eyeing him as he walked beside him. "That's unusual for you. What's so amusing?"

"Nothing," Cloud said though the smile didn't leave his lips. "Just thinking."

"Hmm." Riku didn't say anything else though, he just let it die there.

"I have to admit," King Mickey said from his other side, "I'm actually surprised he's still there. If these guys are as ruthless as you say they are, why let him live? Was this their intention in the first place?"

"Who cares," Cloud blurted out before he frowned. "Sorry. I guess I'm a little…agitated right now."

"Nothing to apologize for," Mickey replied resting a reassuring hand on Cloud's shoulder. "He's a fellow comrade. Of course you'd feel worried about him." He smiled then catching Cloud off guard for a moment. "This is the first time I've seen you actually worry about someone so much besides your king."

"I…I'm not worried," Cloud said despite the blush on his cheeks. "He's a soldier, like me. He knew the risk. Besides, he can take care of himself."

"That's true," Mickey said looking forward again. "However…you've been brushing that hand of his for a while now."

"To make sure he still has a pulse."

"And you've been staring down at him for a while too."

"To make sure he's not feeling any discomfort."

"And," Mickey said glancing out the corner of his eyes, "You've been blushing like crazy since we got back."

Cloud blushed even more at that and closed his eyes speeding up to be ahead of the two. "It's just hot out right now."

Riku blinked then frowned slightly staring after Cloud. "But it's night time…and you're not sweating."

Mickey chuckled slightly smiling over at Riku. "Let it rest. I don't think he's ready to admit his feelings yet."

"His…feelings?" Riku started to ask what he meant before he frowned as if remembering that he wasn't all that fond of the king and walked off to join Cloud. At the very least, it wasn't a real comfortable walk home, each male lost in their own thoughts. But Cloud did at least know one thing. He was going to make sure Leon got better, no matter what. Then when he found the guys that did this to him, he was going to make them pay.

TBC….

And that's the end of this chapter! Hehe yay for Leon being safe and alive! But I do wonder what about his being bandaged up. Ok...so I half know what's going on there.


	12. Princely Garbs 12

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: I got this muse in the shower! Again! My second KH fic, so don't kill me!

Author's Comments: Yay, I updated! (so proud of herself)

Princely Garbs 12

"So Cloud went to Kingdom Hearts with Leon and Riku, did he?"

"It appears that way," Ansem said staring across the table at the man. "Even though it has only been five days, they haven't returned."

_Which can only mean they went to that place…or they were captured._

If he had known that King Sephiroth would make an appearance today, he would have better prepared himself. He should have known that Sephiroth would find out about the prince's disappearance, being as he had close ties with the Namine girl that was supposed to marry Riku. After all, he was the girl's uncle. Though it seemed his main concern was with Cloud. That was to be expected since Cloud was sent off to make frequent visits with the King of Hallow Bastion in Ansem's place. "How did you find out?"

"I have my sources," he said frowning as he tapped the table. "So do you plan to retrieve them?"

"How could I?" Ansem asked, standing up and turning his back resting his arms behind him as he started to walk. "We don't have the ability to open the door at Kingdom Hearts."

"Ah," Sephiroth said before he stood as well. "But doesn't your magician have the ability to visit Kingdom Hearts?"

"Yes, that is true," Ansem said frowning as he glanced at Sephiroth suspiciously, wondering just how much he knew, "but he's only strong enough to take himself there."

"Then just how do you plan on bringing Cloud and Riku back?"

"…I don't know," he said finally giving a brief sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. "Right now, I don't want to send any army out there only to leave ourselves defenseless. Any if there really is someone watching, they'll kill those soldiers in a heartbeat."

Sephiroth nodded his head at that, agreeing with the king. He was as knowledgeable of Kingdom Hearts and the Magic Kingdom as Ansem was. Because not only did Cloud come to him from Radiant Garden, but he came to him from Kingdom Hearts too. Still, with Kingdom Hearts the way it was now, the darkness seemed to have an easier time getting to them. "My suggestion, if you don't mind, would be to send Merlin to check. If he sees them there, he can report back to you and you can make your preparations for the retrieval."

"You seem pretty adamant about all of this." He turned around facing Sephiroth. It wasn't that King Sephiroth was a bad man…more like he was trying to get something he couldn't have…or someone.

"You should know my reasons as well as I do about why I want this done," Sephiroth said, sounding fierce despite the lack of a facial expression. "I want Cloud to be part of my army."

"And I've told you before I can't allow that. Aside from the fact that he refuses to work under you, he still has his obligations to his old kingdom."

"What's the point of kingdom without a king."

"About as much a point as larva inside a cocoon has. Eventually, with given time, a butterfly will set itself free and shine brighter than ever before." Ansem turned staring at him, trying to get him to see. "That kingdom isn't dead yet, it's resting. Soon, a new master will claim that throne."

Sephiroth slammed both his hands down on the table as he stared at Ansem, his eye twitching. "But you know as well as I do that no one can command that kingdom unless they are of the Kingdom Hearts blo-" It seemed to dawn on him suddenly, as his eyes widened. "Do you mean to tell me, someone's still alive from that kingdom?"

"I mean to say it," Ansem said, glad he'd decided to hold this little meeting in the magic protected area so that ears outside wouldn't be listening in, "that soon, Kingdom Hearts will return. That's all I'll say on the matter for now." Ansem turned starting for the door, glancing back to see that Sephiroth was following behind him frowning. "Don't think about it too hard. You're welcome to stay a bit if you want the report on whether Cloud is in Magic Kingdom or not, for all the use that will do you."

"I've left my kingdom untended long enough," Sephiroth said, glancing at him almost sending him a glare but thinking better of it. "Instead, I'll send a trusted follower in my stead. He'll tell me whether or not you find anything." Sephiroth walked past him, not bothering to look back at him. "Farewell for now, King Ansem."

"Yes…farewell for now."

* * *

"I've been wondering."

Axel blinked at the spoken words looking over at Roxas, the younger boy staring at the tiny figurine of himself sitting on Axel's dresser. He didn't say anything else, despite leading the red head on. But he'd been staring at that small figure quietly for a couple of hours now. Axel hadn't bothered him or pestered him to talk; though a part of him really wanted to. However, now Roxas was ready to talk to him, on his own even. But after about a minute of silence, Axel couldn't hold out anymore as he decided to get the conversation moving again.

"About what?" he asked watching as Roxas stuck out a finger gently poking the figure, not responding right away. He seemed to be hesitating. He'd been quiet like this ever since that last encountered.

_Could it have something to do with the keyblader? Or was it...?_

"About…all of this," Roxas said breaking Axel's train of thought. "About…I don't know." Roxas sighed lowering his head for a moment before he turned his head looking at Axel, honestly looking a little on the lost side. "I had been so ready to kill Sora…I had him right in front of me! I came so close but…."

Axel nodded his head showing what support he could. He'd been there; he'd seen the hesitation. Roxas he always been the odd one out at the Organization, probably because he was a kid of Kingdom Hearts. That one guy, the blond guy with the huge sword had definitely sparked something in Roxas. Maybe it was the sincerity of his words, or maybe it was the words themselves that slowed down Roxas's rage.

_"I apologize for not being able to protect you back then."_

Honestly, even Axel didn't know the whole story behind it. He'd been gone on a few missions himself when Roxas was brought to the castle. By the time he'd gotten back, the three-year-old Roxas was already part of their group. They didn't use the darkness to claim him then, instead waiting until he was older so he'd be able to control it better. But even then, seeing those chubby little cheeks, Axel instantly took a liking to the little tyke.

_Well, at least I can say how old he is; I don't even know my age or when I was born._

Yeah, he couldn't really remember much of anything about his own life. Maybe, for all he knew, Xemnas had found him when he was a kid and brought him in just like he did Roxas. Or maybe one of the others had found him just like he had been the one to find Demyx and bring him back. Xemnas was very selective about who was to be part of the Organization and who wasn't. And if someone looked like they were becoming incompetent or losing darkness, they were either retrained or killed. In his case, he knew Xemnas would have the darkness flowing into him again. He didn't want that…he didn't want to block out these feelings he was starting to feel. But then…once Xenmas obtained his goal…then what?

"I need to see him again," Roxas said, staring down at the dresser, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. "I need to see that guy…and Sora. I feel like there's something I'm missing, something Xemnas never told me."

"Are you sure?" Axel asked frowning at Roxas. "They think you're an enemy now, what if they try to kill you?"

"I'm part of the Organization," Roxas said looking at Axel. "If necessary, I can protect myself with ease." He folded his arms over his chest looking up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at Axel. "If you don't want to go, that's fine. You know Xemnas wouldn't allow it anyway."

"No no, I'm going," Axel said quickly shaking his head. "There's no way I'm letting you go out there by yourself." He grinned as he stood up and walked over resting a hand on Roxas's shoulders. "Besides, what would you do without me, anyway?"

"Probably stay out of trouble," Roxas said, sounding serious except for the slight lift to his lips. He was one effected by the darkness too, just like the rest of them. But if he wasn't careful, he'd probably be put through the training again. That was one thing, every member made sure to avoid. Being filled with darkness meant having your feelings and all emotions blocked out. You were to follow the Superior and think only of your mission. Pretending to have feelings was one thing, something Demyx was good at, but having actual feelings could and would effect your mission. In some ways, Axel felt like it was something like…like brainwashing. He couldn't ever really remember much about it, just knew that he felt immense emptiness. Of course, Vexen was the one to who made sure it went well. He also kept a constant monitor of everyone's darkness.

_In fact…I think mine is coming up soon._

"So uh…when do we leave?"

"Now," Roxas said quickly. "I get this feeling that if we stay here, we won't make it out. We're lucky that Marluxia is gone right now or else he'd probably snitch on us."

"So where do you plan to go?"

"Hmm…." Roxas frowned for a second before he focused on Axel again. "Kingdom Hearts. Sora and that guy went through the door, didn't they? Then we'll follow them." He smiled slightly. "It shouldn't be a problem since I'm a prince of Kingdom Hearts too…and since I can command the keyblade…."

"Sounds like you've really been thinking this through alright." Chuckling, Axel rested a hand on his shoulder before giving him a light smile. "Fine. Let's go see your brother then."

* * *

"We're going to start soon."

"Already?" Demyx blinked looking up from the book he'd been skimming through, lying on his tummy as he kicked his feet slightly on his bed.

Luxord looked over at him and nodded his head, a smirk lifting to his lips. "Some highly important people are leaving soon. I suspect in the next day or two."

"So are we on the move?" Marluxia asked, the topic actually gaining his attention.

"In about a few days, yes. I've already reported it to Xemnas."

"So…are they gonna send the others?" Demyx asked as he sat up on the bed stretching his arms over his head, black shirt pulling up tight against him. Even though they hadn't been there for too long now, almost a week, the time to act was getting closer. It seemed a bit of a rush, but with the keyblader out of their reach they didn't have too much choice but to move quickly.

"Since I've heard about the planning the king was making earlier today, I don't expect anyone to show up until tomorrow," Luxord said, rubbing under his chin as he went over to the bed sitting beside Demyx and looking across at the other two. "But it's not to help us…they'll be working elsewhere while we're busy with our own mission."

"Why are we waiting so long anyway?" Larxene demanded glaring across at him then folding her arms and crossing her legs. "Let's just do it now and get this over with."

"With that magic user around? Not a chance." Luxord frowned. "We'd be able to complete our mission better if the odds of interference were lower. So to be honest, this is a good opportunity for us to excel."

Demyx got off the bed stretching his arms over his head, his shirt rising up slightly before he looked at Luxord missing the glance the other gave him at the sight of his creamy skin. "So until then, let's just chill out." He grinned rushing his way to the door. "In the mean time, I'm going to go get myself a snack from the kitchen."

"Greedy monster," Larxene muttered, missing the chuckle Luxord gave out.

"That's easy for him to say," Marluxia let out, leaning back on the bed as he closed his eyes.

"I wonder what would happen if we stuck him in the freezer?" Larxene asked, a twinkle in her eye at the thought.

_We'd have a frozen Demyx, that's what would happen._

"Let's not find out," Luxord said standing up from the bed too. "Right now, his personality is what's making the people here relax and accept us more, so it'd be dumb to do anything to him." He glanced back at them before he started out the door. "I'll call us all together again once we're ready. Expect it to be sometime tomorrow, but don't make any guarantees on it."

"Yes sir," Marluxia said rolling his eyes.

* * *

"Dude…."

"Hm?"

Xigbar grinned as he sat in his chair in the meeting room, staring over at Xaldin. "Dude, you ready for this mission?"

"I'm always ready, mission or not," Xaldin said closing his eyes and folding his arms, sometimes wondering why he even bothered listening to the loud mouth.

"I am surprised you're coming along," Lexaeus said staring across the table at him.

"Destroying the keywielder will move us forward in our plans." He opened his eyes looking over at him, feeling a bit more relaxed talking to the big man. It could have been because Lexaeus was just the quiet type…which just fit Xaldin's mood. He was more into quiet areas, more into keeping away from others and just doing things by himself, the loner that he was. Course that didn't mean he didn't mind hearing himself talk.

_Wait…where did that come from?_

"Dude, just remember, I get first dibs." A glance over showed Xigbar grinning like a fool as he stared at him. In a strange way, his personality almost fit Demyx. The two of them being the only ones that sometimes made you question rather they were really had their hearts filled with darkness…well them and Axel. In fact, Axel was acting strange lately, especially anything that involved Roxas, and for a moment, Xaldin actually thought that maybe Axel was losing his darkness.

_No, he wouldn't be stupid enough to let that happen._

"The three of you will meet with Luxord tomorrow night," Xemnas said as he stepped through the door entering the room. Instantly, the three males turned their attention to him, their Superior and the person who started the reign of darkness for them. "That is when we will begin the next phase of our mission."

"And I'm ready for it!"

"We're all ready for this," Xaldin said glaring at Xigbar who only grinned back at him.

"Good. Then make your preparations tonight. I will be sending Zexion with you as well."

"Oh so the shrimp's finally going to do something useful," Xigbar said laughing as said shrimp walked through the door behind Xemnas.

"Keep talking and I'll cut your tongue out," Zexion replied closing his eyes and folding his arms. "I'm only going on this mission because I was told to."

"He should have no problems keeping up with where the keyblader is. Do not hesitate to use his skills, but do not allow him to be killed as well."

"There should be no problem," Zexion said looking at them all. "If we can kill the king of Kingdom Hearts in his own kingdom, then we can dispose of his son without a problem."

"I don't want him dead yet," Xemnas said turning away from them heading for the door. "Just capture him and bring him back here." He stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder at them. "Bring the prince of Radiant Garden too, if possible. I think he might be…useful."

"We'll get right on it," Lexaeus said pushing from the table and standing up.

"Indeed," Xemnas said before going out the door.

TBC….

And another one down!! And I keep wanting to call Lexaeus, just plain Lex. I blame the RP I'm in. (snickers) Anyways, it's updated! Yay!


	13. Princely Garbs 13

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: Woulda been finished sooner but weekend working didn't help any…not to mention my computer restarting on me in the middle of major revisions. ::grumbles::

Princely Garbs 13

Leon started to wake up, the feeling of something warm holding his hand grabbing his attention. His first reaction to the feeling was to draw his hand away, but the softness coming from the warmth was only able to make him open his eyes instead. He stared up at the ceiling, trying to get his thoughts together, not sure where he was or but definitely being able to tell that he wasn't home. No, nothing in this room even screamed home, from the tall ceilings to the strange mixture of blue and white colorings on the walls. Just where was he anyway? If he was being held prisoner, then this was a nice bed he was being given.

_No…this doesn't feel like a prison at all…is this the Magic Kingdom?_

His hand was encapsulated by a warmth he craved causing him to sit up and look down finding Cloud leaning against the side of the bed he was sitting on, asleep. Looking down, Leon found the reason for the warmth he felt. Cloud's hand was gently wrapped around his holding it, the grip not completely lose despite the fact that Cloud looked like he was deep in sleep.

_But then he's a soldier, we're never that far into sleep._

Leon smiled though, hesitating for a moment before he reached down and brushed Cloud's spiky hair out of his eyes, unable to help thinking how beautiful Cloud looked when he was asleep. Of course he wasn't ready to admit anything further to himself to follow that comment. He still considered himself a soldier first and foremost. Things like these foreign feelings he didn't even know anything about didn't need to be interfering with his work. Being that Cloud was a fellow comrade and also a commander like him, he couldn't help having his worries sometimes though. He knew there was something else there, something that even Cloud was avoiding, enough so that he'd find any excuse to get away from Leon.

_Maybe I'm reading too much into this again._

"Mm…." Cloud shifted slightly, tensing up slightly when he felt the hand on his head. He squirmed slightly, frowning for a second, probably trying to decide what had disturbed his sleep as he opened up his eyes tiredly. From the confused look that shined in his eyes, he probably didn't expect to see a pair of darker eyes staring back at him in return.

"Morning," Leon said quietly, not wanting to alarm Cloud with a loud voice, the quietness of the room actually making things feel real comfortable.

Cloud blinked, like was trying to register what was happening himself before a slight tint of red glowed in his cheeks. "Uh…m-morning." He rubbed his head turning away as he let out a yawn looking, in that moment, even more adorable to Leon. And that very thought made Leon frown as he tried not to think about it. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been sleep for a few days." Leon continued to watch the oblivious blond, unable to help staring at how good he looked while he was sitting there, stretching his arms over his head looking pretty flexible. He caught Cloud glancing at him, but the other quickly looked away. This was pretty usual, the whole glance and look away thing. Cloud seemed to be fond of doing it, that or very unaware of his bad habit. "How long was I out?"

_Cause it sure feels like I've been out for a while._

"Four days," Cloud said standing to his feet finally, before looking down at Leon, having himself under better control now that he was fully awake. "Stay put. I'm going to go get one of the healers to take a look at you."

"Wait." Leon frowned, unable to stop the blond soon enough as the male left the room leaving him to himself for the moment. Once again, it seemed as though Cloud was running away from something. It was something that involved Leon, something that Leon didn't even know about. At least, that's how Leon felt about it when he thought about it. If he were in a better position to move, he would have made it to the door to block it and demand answers of Cloud. Instead, he could do nothing but stay in bed and wait for the blond to return with a healer.

He looked down at his chest from where the blankets that had been covering him moments before were now lying in his lap, unused. He couldn't really remember much of what had happened before now…He did remember seeing those three guys, he remembered he told Cloud to run and take care of the keyblader. So why was he here again and alive? The last thing he remembered was that guy, the one with the eye patch shooting him.

_Organization XIII…._

There had been two others with that guy too. And they hadn't done a thing. If only one of those guys could hurt him like they did then what exactly were they up against? Could they really defeat any of them at all? No…whether they could or not wasn't an option. They had to fight either way, to protect their king, the kingdom, and both princes.

* * *

"Riku, wait!"

Frowning, Riku lowered his sword and looked at Sora. He took notice of the sweat soaking Sora's forehead, causing his brown hair to stick to his forehead, his usually spiky hair actually drooping down. The other panted, the keyblade he'd summoned disappearing from his hands as he rested his hands on his knees to try and help regain his strength. They'd both agreed that Sora needed to practice using his keyblade.

So far, in only three days, Sora had managed to summon the keyblade without hesitation. He was even starting to fight better with it, though fighting and maintaining the keyblade's physical form seemed to be draining a lot out of him. It made Riku wonder just how long it must have taken the king to learn how to do it? How did King Mickey manage to use his keyblade like it was nothing? He'd only seen Mickey fight in training, but that was enough to know just how skilled Mickey was. And he was…very skilled.

"What's the matter now?" Riku asked, feeling the need to tease him, more or less wanting to see that cute little pout that always appeared on Sora's face when he was being picked on. "Can't handle losing?"

"It's not like that?" Sora yelled out, pouting before a frown showed up on his face. "I…just…" Riku watched Sora, noticing how the other seemed to be fidgeting under his stare. Unless he was seeing things, he actually saw a little tint of red in Sora's cheeks.

_Nah, must be my imagination._

"You're worried about Leon, aren't you?" He remembered the look on Sora's face when they had returned with an injured Leon in tow. He'd been scared, worried, and shocked, something he was just now getting over. He did calm down a bit after the healers told them all that Leon's condition wasn't fatal and that he just needed some rest now to regain his energy. It made Riku feel bad a little for not telling Sora what happened. He himself was relieved that Leon was safe but…a part of him was worried about the fact that Leon was alive when he should have been dead. What happened on the other side of that door that they didn't know about?

_Maybe he's really a cockroach._

"Um…" Looking down, Sora gave out a sigh as he nodded his head. "Yeah…sorry. I just…after seeing those wounds I'm kinda…worried still." Even though the healers had healed Leon up nicely, he hadn't woken up for four days. Was he trapped inside his mind now, refighting the battle?

"Me too," Riku smiled at the younger boy, the same boy whom he was infatuated with. At least, he felt he could admit that to himself now. He had an obsession with his best friend. He felt that he might even be in love with him. But…how could he tell him that? Especially since he wasn't sure Sora felt the same way.

_Especially if Sora really likes Kairi…._

"You know him. He'll be ok," Riku continued deciding that now wasn't the time to be thinking about this. Smirking, he did the Leon pose, giving an exaggerated sigh as he rested his fingers to his forehead looking a perfect copy of the tall brunet that was their commander. "Remember your training, no matter the situation," Riku said mimicking Leon before looking at Sora, "is what he'd be saying right now."

Sora couldn't help the little laugh that escaped his lips. "Yeah, you're right." The laugh died on his lips, but he continued to smile, making Riku's heart beat faster at the sweet look. Why oh why did he have to be so into him? "Still, can we take a break and go see him?"

"Slacker!" Riku yelled out, the smile contagious despite himself. "Let's go then, big baby."

"Alright!"

* * *

"Leon, you're awake!" Sora yelled from the door, eyes wide, Riku standing behind him smirking over his shoulders.

Leon grunted in return, though his lips twitched in a smile. It didn't look like much changed about them, though Riku still held a very protective stance over Sora, as if he were worried something might come out and attack the smaller boy. "I hope you've been training while I was sleep."

Riku chuckled as he slid past Sora, his hand resting on Sora's shoulder for a second. "No change there."

"How are you feeling?" Sora asked as he walking over, his cheeks a bit red, probably from that lingering touch to his shoulder.

"Just fine," Leon said before tilting his head towards the door. "Cloud just stepped out to find a healer."

Riku blinked, actually showing a bit of surprise at the comment. "Well I'm surprised. He hasn't left the room since we got you back here."

Leon's eyes widened a bit, surprised to know the blond had even did that. By the way he ran out of the room so quickly, you wouldn't have known he actually cared.

_No…I'm reading too much into it._

Sora beamed, rubbing a finger under his nose, almost like he could see the red blush Leon felt on his face. "You should be lucky to have such a good friend."

Riku wiggled his nose, glancing at Sora and making a face. "Course that means he hasn't bathe for three days straight." That of course brought a bout unbidden thoughts of Cloud naked in the bath. Leon could smell the scent of soap on that beautiful naked body as water cascade from his hair to his-

Leon cleared his throat as he looked at the two teens, staring back at him in curiosity. "How has training been?" He might as well change the subject, right? Right. Besides, it's not like it's any of their business what goes on in his mind. Honestly, he should train himself to have better control of his thoughts, so they wouldn't run away from him again like that. Last thing he needed was to have a tent poking up underneath the blanket, something he really didn't want to have to explain to any of them.

"Ah, you're awake."

"King Mickey!" Sora turned around, a small blush appearing on his cheeks as he stared at the tall male with black hair walking over to them. Strange, one teen looked elated while the other was…angry? Leon took note of how Riku was glaring over at the guy. Wait, who was this Mickey guy anyway? "He's the king of Magic Kingdom," Sora yelled out excitedly, answering Leon's unasked question with no problem. "He's so cool and his fighting skills are so awesome!" The way Sora's eyes were sparkling like star-filled night, Leon could tell he admired the king. The king himself looked pretty relaxed, smiling kindly at them all. But being a soldier himself, Leon could see that the other was also ready for battle, weapon or not. And the way Sora spoke so highly of him…he must be something.

The guy named Mickey laughed as he smiled down at the short boy staring up at him in adoration. "I'm sure I'm not as great as your commanders. They must be far more skilled than I am."

"Like a mouse with a piece of cheese," Riku muttered, though it was loud enough that the others heard him.

Mickey blinked at him before laughing.

"A mouse with cheese, how rich," he said smiling Riku with a glow in his eyes. "I guess you could say I'm like a mouse…in many ways."

"Hehe, yeah." Sora added resting his hands behind his head. "I think mice are cute," he continued, blushing slightly not even noticing the angry look Riku tossed the king's way. Well…that look definitely can't be good. Apparently, Riku was harboring some really nasty feeling towards this king. "Oh that reminds me." Sora blinked and glanced up at Mickey again. "I really want to know…can you transform like how Chip and Dale did?"

"I could…but I won't." Mickey laughed at the disappointed look he got. "It's not quite time yet for you to see. It's in that form that I use my keyblade best though. But," he said, holding up a finger to stop Sora's protesting, "If you keep practicing like you're doing now, I'll definitely let you see it."

…_See what?_ _What does he mean transform?_

Could they even trust this guy to begin with? He didn't even know a thing about this Mickey guy, king or not.

_But if Cloud trusts him…._

No wait…why would something like that matter? Wasn't Cloud the one they needed to be careful of? But he found himself feeling that maybe he was wrong to begin with for even thinking that Cloud would betray them. Besides…those glowing red cheeks and that innocent stutter had to have meant something….

_Or…am I just hoping it did?_

Leon frowned slightly. For all he knew, Cloud was just trying to trap him…but then again he'd known the guy for a pretty long time, at least twelve years. If Cloud had wanted to harm him then he wouldn't have bothered coming back, he wouldn't have gave out such a worried yell when the red shots fired from their enemy's gun.

_He wouldn't have stayed with me day and not worrying…._

"Your boys have been doing a good job with training," Mickey said gaining Leon's attention again. He seemed oblivious to the glare Riku was still sending his way. Well…if he did notice, he didn't give any indication of it.

"Oh really?" Leon looked to the two, seeing a smile on one face and a sour scowl on the other. Well, at least one of them appreciated the compliment. Then again, who was he to say anything? He wasn't much for saying thank you and you're welcome himself. Maybe the most respect he'd give anyone, besides his king, was a quick nod for thanks. The most his king got out of him was a quick fist against his chest over his heart, more or less his salute to the king. Thankfully, Ansem didn't expect much else out of him, which was indicated by the knowing smile the king gave him.

"Yes, they have," Mickey continued, glancing out the corner of his eyes at the two boys. "Sora is especially getting really good with the keyblade. He can now summon it without so much as a hesitation, and his fighting skills with the new weapon have been improving greatly. It's obvious he's of the royal blood of Kingdom Hearts." He smiled down at Sora, resting a hand on the young male's shoulder. "He's just like his father was."

"Aww geez, it was nothing," Sora said rubbing a finger under his nose, though he was grinning like crazy causing Riku to frown at the look.

"Two of my best friends will be coming back soon," Mickey said turning away from them. "So until then, why not just relax and have a nice dinner." Mickey glanced over at Leon as if he knew the other was about to protest. "Thinking and plotting normally comes best on a full stomach and a nice fulfilling rest." The smile stayed on his face as he glanced at the three of them, the look in his eyes leaving Leon to wonder just how old this guy was. He couldn't have been more twenty something…but his eyes seemed to say he was far older than that. "I'll contact Merlin soon to see how things are going in Radiant Garden," he said looking at Sora smiling. "So just be patient a little longer, please." He walked over to the door and opened it, pausing again before he looked at the young keyblade master. "In the mean time, keep practicing with the keyblade. There will be a time where you will have to-"

"Leeeeoooooonnnn!" A fast blur ran past them all, attaching itself to Leon leaving everyone staring around in confusion before figuring out what it was. "You had us scared to death!"

Leon lips twitched slightly as he tried to dislodge the girl from him then gave a sigh of defeat, instead just patting her head slightly. "Sorry Yuffie. I'm fine now."

"You better be!" She sat up, sending him a mock glare, not that a real one could have defeated the glare king. "Cloud would have been sooooo upset if something had happened to you!"

…_Wait…what?_

Leon felt his cheeks redden and closed his eyes, grunting with a hand against his forehead even though none of that helped to slow the rapid beating of his heart. "Being fellow comrades," he started, saying something he was always saying the others when it concerned him and Cloud, though why he always felt like he had to explain himself, he wasn't sure, "it is only logical that sometimes-"

"Oh, don't go pulling that whole comrade thing!" Yuffie yelled out, resting her hands on her hips as she really did glare down at him this time. Not that he felt bothered by her glare. He didn't think he did a damn thing wrong. And honestly, he didn't. He was only telling the truth. "Cloud really lo-"

"If you guys are done talking about me when I'm not around," Cloud said, blushing and looking a bit offended as he stood at the door, almost missing Yuffie's startled jump as she glanced at him guiltily, "I brought the healer." He looked at their faces for a second, eyes pausing on Leon the longest before he turned walking off.

"Ah, Cloud wait!" Yuffie didn't hesitate to chase after him. The rest of them could only stare after the retreating blond. This wasn't surprising, at least it wasn't anymore. Normally, Cloud wouldn't have cared or said a thing about it, but there were a few times he seemed to really be frustrated at the others, especially with anything that involved him and Leon.

_Does that make me special…in a creepy way?_

"Yuffie's big mouth has done it again," Riku said under his breath.

"Naturally," Leon replied, trying to will the light pink color in his cheeks to go away. With Mickey looking at him in confusion, he sighed and decided to try and explain it the best way he could. "Yuffie's big mouth is normal, no matter what the topic is."

"Oooh."

Sora blinked, still being the oblivious of the group, his thoughts having not made it past the last comment Yuffie had been about to say. "um…what was she going to say?" he asked, causing three pairs of eyes, four if you considered the healer still standing at the door, to look at him.

"Maybe when you're older," Leon said smacking his forehead. He wasn't looking forward to having to sit down and talk to the boys about the facts of life, things like…the birds and the bees. Or the bees and the bees in their case.

"Oh yes," Mickey said earning the attention of the group again, each pair of eyes looking at him with different types of emotion shining in them. "I came to tell you all that dinner's ready. You can go eat when you're ready."

"Oh man, I'm starving too!" Sora yelled out grinning like an idiot.

Sora ran out of the room, Mickey starting to follow behind him before he paused by the healer, talking to him. "Do you think you could run make Commander Leon here a plate of food before you start? With three full days of rest, I'm sure he must be quite hungry. And please, take your time with it."

"Yes, Your Highness," the healer said before he bowed and left out of the room.

Mickey watched the healer leave before turning to Leon with a smile. "Please, relax and rest as much as possible so that you can heal quickly."

"I will thanks." Leon sat there in the bed, watching the king walk out of the room. Riku glared after Mickey's retreating back before he turned starting to follow him out.

"Riku…."

Riku stopped walking but he didn't bothering turning around. His shoulders were tense as if he knew what was about to be said…then again maybe he did know.

_He's not dumb…never has been._

"You seem to be having a problem with the king here," Leon said frowning when the boy didn't even bother to look at him.

"No…I'm not." Riku started to move again, heading for the door.

""Is this about Sora…or your wedding…." Riku stopped walking again, that being enough to gain his attention even though it was obviously the last thing Riku wanted to be reminded of. "I can see you don't like King Mickey, probably because you feel like Sora's getting too attached to him."

"That's…not…."

"Still, your obligation should be to princess Namine," Leon said easily, not giving Riku a chance to finish his sentence. Even if he did disagree with prearranged marriage, sometimes it was required of a kingdom for several reasons. In this reasoning, it'd bring Radiant Garden closer to Hallow Bastion, giving a better alliance between King Ansem and King Sephiroth. "…why marry someone I don't know or even like?"

"Because, you need an heir…you need a woman." Leon frowned, the words feeling dead to him. Maybe this wouldn't have been necessary if Riku had actually had a brother or a sister, but being the only living child to his parents didn't really help the case. The same could be said of Sora, at least as far as he knew anyway. Without heirs, the bloodline would die…then who would lead the country? Well there was Kairi, but she wasn't ruler material, at least not in a world where men made the dictatorship. "You need someone who can bare children."

"I don't care about that!" Riku blurted out loudly, not caring whether anyway had heard him or not. He was wired, probably more than he should have been since he'd been holding all of this inside. But this wasn't his first time voicing his disagreement on this…hence why he had to meet with the king on so many occasions. In fact, Leon still wasn't sure what caused Riku to finally agree in the first place. "I never asked to be a prince!" A true statement. No one asked to be put in the position they were in. Maybe if Riku wasn't the prince…maybe if Sora weren't a prince of his own land…maybe then….

"And just like how you have obligations to your kingdom, so does Sora," Leon continued. "Sora is the only survivor to his kingdom. He will need an heir for his kingdom to survive. Someone he knows he can trust…someone like Kairi."

"…Are you done?" Riku didn't bother to look at him. He looked calm, but the clenching of his fist at his sides showed otherwise. Riku was not happy…and who was Leon to blame him? If the situation were swapped, he wouldn't be happy either. If he was being told he couldn't be with Cloud beca-

_Wait…why am I thinking about Cloud?_

Leon noticed that Riku seemed to be waiting for a reply, and he frowned before giving a slight nod of his head. "Yes…for now," Leon said, eying the boy's back noticing the tension in his shoulders. After this, he was probably planning to go vent his frustration, probably with some hard training. That was just the way Riku got. When he was mad or upset, instead of crying, instead of yelling and screaming, he'd grab his sword up and he'd fight. Normally at the air if there was no training dummies to practice. "Go get something to eat then get some rest for tomorrow."

"…" Riku didn't say a word as he left out of the room, letting the door close behind him. Rather he'd do what Leon said or not, he didn't know. Why? Why did this all have to be so difficult? Leon sighed as he rubbed at his forehead tiredly. He was getting too old for this.

"Mr. Leon sir?" The voice drew Leon's attention back to the door to find the healer standing there, a plate of steaming food on a plate in his hand. "Are you ready, sir?"

"Yes," Leon said giving up. "I'm ready." Though ready for what, he wasn't sure. He felt like the question was for something else all together.

TBC….

Hehe ok ok…so Mickey didn't turn into a mouse this time. Maybe next time…Cause I think things are getting ready to heat up again, so to speak.


	14. Princely Garbs 14

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?  
Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness  
Comments: Yay for slow work days! When the internet doesn't go down, I can get alot done on days no one's coming in and then send it back to myself. I mean what else can I do while sitting there? Stare into space? Sheesh. ::grins:

Princely Garbs 14

"He's gone," Luxord said glancing at the other three as he came into the room. "This is the time to act."

"Alright, bout time," Demyx yelled out jumping up from his bed with a grin on his face. "I've been waiting for this."

Marluxia ignored Demyx's outburst as he looked over at Luxord, frowning and folding his arms. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan? I think Demyx should handle the children. Larxene, you handle the females. And you," he looked at Marluxia, "take care of the guys. They won't think you're strong enough to do anything so it shouldn't be a problem. Meanwhile," Luxord looked out the window resting his hands behind his back as he continued, "I'll handle the king." He turned around looking at them all. "We're aiming to capture as many people as possible. As for the king, I'll capture him and see if Xenmas will want to make him part of the Organization since he has such a strong will. The darkness won't drive him mad like the others."

"So let's go then!" Demyx started for the door, leaving the others staring after him before shrugging their shoulders. Maybe it was just him, but Luxord was thinking that Demyx was a little too eager to get this mission underway. He'd been bored and complaining about the lack of doing anything for a while now, even though he shouldn't have had reason to be bored with his heart blocked by darkness. This was probably just what he was looking for to get things started. How Demyx planned on getting the children to listen to him, Luxord didn't know. He just knew he could trust Demyx to get the job done. And since the kids were so easily swayed by Demyx's easy going personality, they'd be quick to follow him.

Larxene, despite her personality, was able to get in with the females just cause she was a woman. Majority of the females there wanted to dress her up, despite the fact that she was against it. They were protective of her, so they wouldn't be a problem when it came to trusting her. As for the men, Marluxia's bright pink hair didn't exactly put him in good with them. But being considered weak just because of his girlish appearance was going to give him an advantage. There was no way the guys could even imagine the things Marluxia could do to them.

As for himself, Luxord was planning to go after the king, something that was going to be tricky. He had to put into consideration that the king was not alone, that at least a few other skilled guards would be there to protect him. He didn't mention that to the others from the Organization weren't coming, and no one bothered to ask him either. There was still Saix, if Xenmas was willing to part with the sixth member of their group. Just Saix alone should be enough to help Luxord and the others to keep everything under control. So the only thing now was to take care of the king. And he had a feeling the king wouldn't be a push over.

_Well let's get this over with then._

* * *

"Well?" 

"Just shut up and let him work," Xaldin said glaring at Xigbar. The sharpshooter just grinned back, staring at him with his one usable eye before he laughed. It sounded like someone was in a bad mood, someone who shouldn't even be able to feel anything at all. Lexeaus just stood to the side listening but not really paying attention as he looked towards the door leading to the Magic Kingdom. It didn't seem like they were getting anywhere, something that gave Lexeaus a bit of frustration.

"They didn't come here yet," Zexion said frowning and sniffing at the air before he glanced back at the others. "They should be almost here though. For now, let's hide until they show up."

"Alright fine," Xigbar said not hesitating to hide as he disappeared, vanishing into his little portal to appear somewhere else, somewhere that was currently outside of Lexeaus's eyesight. Xaldin mumbled something then walked off leaving Zexion and Lexeaus standing alone together.

Zexion glanced up at Lexeaus before he looked over at the door again, almost like he was thinking of something. Naturally, Lexeaus was used to Zexion's silence, much like how he was used to Xaldin's or Vexen's. So when he turned to walk off to find a place big enough for him to hide, he didn't expect to hear Zexion speaking to him.

"I might be able to distract them," Zexion said causing Lexeaus to stop mid-turn and listen to him. "As soon as he unlocks the door, I might be able to confuse them long enough to let us slip through without being seen."

"You do only what you know you can do," Lexeaus said staring down at the tiny figure by the door, tiny to his eyes anyway.

"Our main concern is capturing the keyblader and his friend. The last thing we need is to have to deal with those two at the same time."

"Because if they knew our goals, they would try to stop us." Lexeaus nodded his head understanding that. If what Zexion had overhead Axel and Roxas talking about was true, then there was a chance that Roxas would join the other side. If that happened, they'd have two keybladers to worry about and more trouble than they wanted to admit. And since Roxas was more skilled at using his keyblades than his twin brother was, then he'd actually be more of a threat than the oblivious keyblader. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if Roxas's brother learned how to use them.

"Yes," Zexion answered even through Lexeaus already knew. "So let's move quickly through the door, let's not hesitate and give them enough time to look through the illusion. They may suspect me if that happens."

"And what sort of illusion will you show them?"

"Well…" Zexion looked at him as he started walking, expecting Lexeaus to follow him. "Axel's already losing the darkness in his heart, I can smell it. He is, deny it or not, infatuated with Roxas. Roxas, on the other hand, still seeks to know the truth about his past…so I'll need something that looks natural and will distract the both of them, give them pause. Something like…"

"Something like?" Lexeaus followed the smaller boy, making sure to walk slowly so he wouldn't pass him by with his longer legs.

"Something like a link to the past," Zexion said, looking at the wall. Lexeaus looked at the wall before giving a nod of his head, apparently agreeing with the plan. It was sure to work. It'd definitely do.

* * *

"Riku, are you ok?" Sora blinked walking over to Riku, noticing the boy leaning up against the door to Sora's current bedroom. He didn't look happy and hadn't even bothered to come to dinner, something that was really bothering the brunet. Why had Riku skipped out on dinner? Why was he looking like he wanted to punch something right now? 

Apparently, Riku didn't expect anyone to come looking for him cause he jumped a bit before he looked over at Sora and gave a half smile, not really looking like he wanted to smile in the first place. "Hey, I didn't see you there."

Sora gave him a little smile in return, but the worry in his eyes stayed there as he stopped in front of Riku looking up at him. "Is something wrong, Riku? You didn't come to dinner. Are you feeling ok?"

The smile dropped quickly from Riku's lips as he turned his head away, refusing to look at Sora as he spoke. "Nothing, just not hungry, that's all."

"Come on, you can always tell me. Did something happen? Are you homesick?"

Riku met Sora's eyes before he looked down, letting his bangs cover his eyes avoiding looking at him. "I said I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Riku…." Sora reached out a hand resting it on Riku's hand, eyes widening slightly when he felt Riku pull his hand away. "Riku-"

"Stop it," Riku said softly, though there was force behind his words. "Just…don't…not right now." He glanced down at him for a moment before he turned starting to walk away. "I just need to be alone for a bit."

"Riku, wait!" Sora reached out without thinking, grabbing hold of Riku's hand before he could get away. He expected to feel Riku pull away and was shocked when Riku didn't that he was silent for a moment before he shook his head. "We're best friends. We've known each other for so long, I know something's wrong. Please, please tell me! I want to help you!"

"Sora-"

"Don't!" The sudden choked sound in Sora's voice must have been enough to make Riku look at him. In fact, Sora felt his eyes blur slightly, wondering why this was upsetting him so much. May it was the feeling of rejection from being pushed away from his best friend that made him feel this way. "Riku…you're always holding everything in. You never tell anyone how you feel and...and I don't like not being able to help you. I don't like not knowing when you're not feeling good. I don't like it when you keep all your pain to yourself. I…I want you to trust me. I want to know that I can be there for you, no matter what. I'm supposed to be your protector…aren't I? I-I'm supposed to help push away your pain…."

"Sora…" Riku stared down at him, his eyes softening as he used his hand brushing the wetness from Sora's eyes with a thumb. "I do trust you…more than anyone or anything. You've always been there for me. It's just…this time…it's something I have to do alone." Riku frowned causing Sora to frown too before he wiped at his eyes with his arm. "Is something I have to decide on. Once I've made my decision…I'll tell you."

"Do you promise?" That cute little pout was on Sora's face again, though he was just a bit happier that Riku wasn't pushing him away again. At least he was able to help him some…even if he didn't know how he did it.

"I promise," Riku whispered starting to reach for Sora's cheek before he stopped himself and lowered his hand. The look in Riku's eyes, the way he was staring down at him so close now that he could feel his body heat, Sora knew his cheeks reddened. He wished he could bring himself to lean up and kiss his lips, the thought somehow not making him feel so bad. But he was afraid of Riku's reaction, of what he'd do if he knew just how much Sora liked him. Riku didn't seem to be in a rush to leave either though, something that gave Sora pause for a moment. He felt like his heart would burst out of his chest at any moment, his knees feeling weak enough that he stumbled slightly reaching out and holding Riku's shoulder to hold himself steady at the same time that Riku's hand went to his waist to help him.

He gasped in surprise, head shooting up to look at Riku again, his hands tightening on his shoulder as he stared up at him. "R-Riku…." He knew his cheeks were red though he didn't feel so bad after he saw Riku's redden a bit.

"You're not making this easy," Riku said softly.

" Making…what easy?" He didn't get his answer as Riku instead just tightened his hold on his hips and pulled him closer, bending his head as he brought his lips to Sora's. Sora stared up at him with wide, surprised eyes, his lips not immediately reacting due to the shock. He felt the frown on Riku's lips due to the lack of a response and felt Riku starting to pull away. Panicking, he held Riku tighter following the retreating lips until he was pressed up against Riku hearing the other's rapidly beating heart. Riku seemed to understand at that point, returning the shy kiss and giving a tentative lick to the lips below his before he broke the kiss staring down at Sora and closed his eyes resting his forehead against Sora's. "Thank God."

Sora blinked staring up at him; his hold on Riku's shoulders not loosening. "For what?" Riku hesitated, tensing slightly before he opened his eyes to find Sora's blue eyes staring at him and glanced away in embarrassment. "Because…I didn't think you'd…"

"Riku…." Sora smiled leaning up on his tiptoes as he brushed Riku's hair out of his eyes and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Riku blinked at Sora before he smiled, truly meaning it this time. "Well…that fixes half of my problem at least." Sora opened his mouth to ask what the rest of the problem was, but a voice from behind them caused the two boys to pull way from each other blushing like crazy.

"Squee! Oh so cute!" Yuffie jumped up and down clapping her hands together and giggling. "Oh, it's about time you two got together! I thought I was going to have to lock you two in a room together or something!"

"Y-Yuffie." Sora blushed, sliding behind Riku slightly using him as a human shield from the hyper active girl.

"Oh yeah," Yuffie said, still giggling as she stared at Riku who, at the moment, couldn't seem to get his emotions together enough to glare at her. "They're ready for that meeting now. They're all in the briefing room at the moment. And guess what? King Mickey's friends are really a dog and a duck! But they're so adorable! I mean not as adorable as you and-hey wait! Wait up! Don't leave me behind!" Riku hadn't bothered to stick around as he grabbed Sora's hand tugging on it deciding now was the time to get away from the big mouth girl. Hopefully, she'd keep her mouth shut about what happened. The last thing Sora needed was to have to deal with King Ansem talking about marriage and telling him not to think about Riku as more than just a friend and stuff.

_He's so mean!_

Still, something about what Riku said bothered him. What did he mean half of his problem was solved? Was he talking about the wedding? Wait…was it wrong that Sora was kissing a soon to be king…and on top of that a soon to be married king? He remembered Ansem's words that he wasn't to interfere, that he wasn't supposed to do anything that would endanger Riku's life. But Riku was the one that decided to come along. Besides, Riku should be allowed to do whatever he wanted.

_I wouldn't want to be forced to marry someone if I didn't want to._

So why should Riku? He should just tell them no! Or maybe…that was just what Sora wanted.

What if Riku did go through with the marriage? What then? Would Sora have to give Riku up? Would Riku…try to forget about what happened?

_I don't' want to think about it!_

But he did think about it, all the way to the briefing room…where he saw someone he didn't think he'd see there. "Merlin!"

Tbc…

And I stops it here for now. Hehe loooooooooooooong day at work so I just did it there…then the internet went down and I couldn't send it home…so I printed it out and typed it up again when I got home. I really need to invest in a zip drive.


	15. Princely Garbs 15

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: And And um...updated!! Yeah!! I'm so low on comments right now!! It's possibly because my mind is currently on Pit cuteness from Smash...now I must buy that game for myself someday.

extra note: I did something that messed up my usual format on this chapter so uh...bare with me?

Princely Garbs 15

"There, the door's unlocked," Roxas said standing in front of the door leading to the Magic Kingdom. He let the keyblade disappear from his hand, giving Axel a glance. He'd come to reply pretty heavily on Axel, despite how he acted. Axel was a strong support to him, had always been. If he could tell anyone anything, it'd be him.

"Good, that didn't take long at all," Axel said smiling down at the shorter male, the smile having too much warmth to be the smile of a person affected by the darkness. Then again, maybe Roxas was just reading too much into it. "Whoa, is that your mom?" Roxas blinked looking over to see what it was Axel was looking at. There was a picture of a woman on the wall, a picture that made him wonder how he'd missed it. The woman in the picture stared back at him, smiling with bright blue eyes staring right at him, her hair a similar color to his. Yes, that had to be his mother. He would have never thought she was so beautiful.

_Mom…_

In the picture there were two children sitting in her lap, one that looked like a tiny version of Roxas and the other of his twin brother, Sora. Standing to the side of them was a man wearing his elaborate robe and a crown, a big boyish grin on his face, as he stared at his family from the corner of his eyes, obviously not paying attention to the camera. It was a family portrait with him, his brother, his mom and….

_Dad…_

Roxas felt his eyes water slightly, rubbing his arm across them as he stared around the room, seeing more pictures, pictures of both him and Sora playing together, of pictures of just him with his mother or his father or all three. It was obvious from these pictures that he'd been happy and that his family had loved him. So then…what had happened? He remembered the sadness he'd seen in that one guy's eyes and it made him question his life as it was. He felt something trying to break through the darkness in his heart, but he couldn't explain what the feeling was, only that he wanted to feel it. The only thing he could do now was to go see his brother and that man and get his answers from him, connect the pieces of his jumbled life.

"Axel," Roxas said turning around, pausing for a moment at the look on Axel's face before he shook his head. "Let's go."

"Right behind you," Axel said, not having even noticed the red blush on his own face as the two of them headed for the door. Roxas felt even more determined now to find them. He'd never really trusted Xemnas, but his constant jealously of his brother had blinded him to the possibility that maybe the Superior of Organization was even lying about this as well.

_I think he would._

"You look like you're a bit surer of yourself now," Axel said glancing over at him as he walked.

"I think just coming here taught me a lot about myself," Roxas said not bothering to glance over as he headed through the door, feeling Axel's support beside him. As if by a second thought, he stopped and turned to the door, the keyblade appearing in his hand as he pointed it at the door, the beam of light shooting out locking the door back in place again. For now, that would be the end of seeing that world. He'd return once he was sure of what his plans were going to be.

* * *

"Wha…but…wait…what is Merlin doing here?!"

Riku was just as shocked as Sora was, though he was able to conceal his shock a lot better. Either that or he was still reeling over the hot kiss he'd gotten from the other boy. Even though he'd really enjoyed it, had wished it would never end, he still felt somewhat guilty inside. Despite what Leon had said, he had a point. He didn't really care about being married to Namine, and didn't have any real plans to go through with it either. But Sora…honestly, as much as he hated to admit it, Sora was better off with Kairi. Not only was she beautiful, she was a woman and she would be able to give Sora an heir. After all, Sora was pretty much a king, and being the sole survivor, there was no way he'd be able to have his kingdom go on without a kid to take over.

_I'm just being selfish._

He knew it was true. He wanted Sora all to himself. He didn't anyone else to have him, not even his own cousin. The situation was going to be harder now because he now knew that Sora, at the least, returned his feelings. The other at least liked him somewhat. Or…was their friendship the reason Sora responded? What if Sora just didn't want him to feel bad? He hadn't been quick to kiss him back. It had been Riku who had initiated the kiss first.  
But he had to admit, it felt good to have Sora in his arms. Riku smirked slightly thinking about the kiss and the feeling of Sora's hips when he held him close. And he had to admit, he could have sworn he felt Sora respond in a good way when he-

"Get your head out of the clouds, Riku!"

"Huh?" Riku blinked staring at the knowing look Yuffie was passing his way before he blushed remembering where he was. He definitely needed better control over his emotions. Glancing around, he took note that everyone was watching him now, no thanks to Yuffie's outburst. Even Sora was staring at him, though there was a tale tell hint of pink in his cheeks. He apparently had an idea of what he was thinking about.

_At least he knows part of what I'm thinking about anyway…_

Leon happened to be there as well, though Riku avoided looking at him, that guilty feeling in his chest again. He could tell his commander was watching him too, especially when he asked, "Are you feeling ok?" Riku just nodded his head in reply, not really wanting to actually talk to him. Just because he felt some agreement with him, didn't mean he still wasn't mad about what he said.

"Things aren't looking so good at Radiant Garden," Merlin said, those words being enough to draw everyone's attention back to him.

"What do you mean?" Leon demanded, though there was a worried look in his eyes.

"I mean the dark forces are trying to move in," Merlin said. "I've already alerted the king to the issue so he's taking precautions though I'm afraid they may have already invaded the palace."

"Then what are we doing standing around here?!" Sora asked, baring his teeth slightly, wanting to protect those dear to him. "We can't just stay here, we need to help them!"

"No, you and Riku are staying here," Cloud said frowning a bit. "I really don't like the idea of taking you back, especially now. They might be trying to trap us and lure you out."

"But-"

"Cloud and I will go with Merlin to see what's happening," Leon said folding his arms and glaring at Sora just daring him to say otherwise. "Meanwhile, you stay here and wait for word from us."

"Don't worry," Mickey said quickly winking at Sora as the other started to pout. "Donald, Goofy, and I will stay here and keep you and Riku safe!" Riku blinked noticing how Sora's cheeks reddened at the wink, and narrowed his eyes glaring at Mickey. Kiss or no kiss, apparently it didn't stop Mickey from flirting with his Sora, or at least what he saw as flirting anyway. At the suspicious look Leon gave him, Riku cleared his throat before he turned from them.

"Well, do what you want," Riku said as he started for the door. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"But Riku!" Riku didn't stop, even though it had been Sora that called out to him. No, he needed some time alone, some time to think things through. He needed to make a decision whether he wanted to or not.

"Just make sure everyone's safe and sound, ok?" He glanced back receiving a nod from both Leon and Cloud and a pout from Sora. Why oh why did he have to be so cute?!

_Because he's Sora…._

* * *

Despite all the excitement that had happened not even days earlier, Seifer was bored. He wanted some action, something to do to get rid of this mundane motion of life and stupid guard duty. Lately, he'd been given orders to keep an eye on Kairi and the King, being that he was the only soldier that was capable of fighting well in the kingdom at the moment. He was also in control of keeping everything together and deciding what soldiers were to do what. Honestly, it was more responsibility than he wanted.

At least he didn't have to worry much about Kairi. She pretty much stayed in her room, no doubt upset still about Sora and her cousin disappearing. Selphie was always there to keep her company, which did help things a lot too. As for Tidus, Seifer had him off doing guard duty with Wakka. He didn't really care that Tidus didn't like him. He didn't like the kid either. He was too peppy, to excited about nothing, dumb, smelly, and just plain annoying. He was about as bad as that stupid Sora kid that Riku was so into. How the two of them got along, Seifer couldn't figure it out. They were like the sun and the moon. Riku was calm, cool-headed, smart, and skilled with the sword, while Sora was a bit brain dead, easily aggravated, excitable, and sporadically clumsy when it came to sword fighting, granted he used a two-handed sword. No wonder he and Tidus got along so well.

Speaking of dumb and dumber, there was Tidus, all alone and peering into the women's bathhouse window. The fact that he was drooling all over the place must have meant he found something he liked.

_Dumbass, why doesn't he just follow his orders? Especially when I'm the one giving the orders!_

Hmm…. Seifer looked down and picked up a small rock, which he used to throw beaming Tidus right in the back of the head.

"OW!! What the hell?!"

"Hey stupid," Seifer called out, using the nickname he'd given to the annoying little cadet. "Get back to work."

"Just because King Ansem left you in charge doesn't mean you can tell me what to do!" Tidus said, yelling and resting his hands on his hips glaring at him. A lot of good that'd do for a small midget like him.

_That idiot just doesn't know what he's doing!_

"Then I guess you won't mind another rock to the head then!" Seifer yelled out, picking up another rock as he tossed it up in his hand.

"I am doing my job!" Tidus yelled again, forgetting that he was right next to the bathhouse.

"Spying on naked women isn't a job!" Not that he didn't mind getting an eyeful himself, but there was no way he'd be sharing that time with the stupid, not even all that good with combat, boy standing in front of him. "Now go do something useful like guarding Kairi!"

"Maybe I will!" Tidus stuck his tongue out at him as he grumbled, before a new look came across his face and he turned towards the window. "Hey! Seifer's checking out the girls' goodies!" After hearing a good squeal, he took off leaving Seifer staring at him with a look that could kill. That was until about fifteen towel-wrapped bodies appeared from the women's bath heading his way.

It wasn't until he saw the girls brandishing all types of weapons, such as soap bottles and brushes that he knew he was in trouble. "That damn idiot!" It was times like this that Seifer could compete with even Cid's foul mouth.

* * *

It'd been a few hours now since Riku had walked out on the group. Thinking about it now, it had been pretty childish of him to do that. He was supposed to be a future king, how could he do something like that? Well he was in a bad mood, of course he'd feel like that. It didn't help any that Sora hadn't even come by to see how he was doing. Did Sora even care about him at all?

_Maybe that kiss was just to shut me up._

"They're not giving you the appreciation you deserve."

Riku jolted up in bed from where he'd been staring at the ceiling and glanced around. That voice wasn't a voice he'd heard before. Either way, it didn't sit exactly right with him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Zexion," the male said appearing beside the window gaining Riku's full attention. "I'm here to retrieve you."

Jumping from the bed, Riku backed away from him as he glared, trying to figure out when he'd shown up. "What do you want with me?" The man eyed him for a moment, giving Riku the feeling that he was reading into his mind. Maybe he was, who knows?

"You're tired of everyone trying to control what you do, right?" The guy didn't really sound like he cared much, but then again his words were hitting pretty close to home in his opinion. Leon, Cloud, the king…all of them except for Sora and Cid felt like they had to tell him what to do. Just because he was the prince, he had to follow codes, he had to get married, he had to bare a kid, he had to rule the country. He never asked for any of that, never wanted it…he wanted a normal life with his friends, to do what he wanted when he wanted.

"You still didn't answer my question," Riku muttered as he pulled out his sword, the metal casting a glare on the man that didn't even make him flinch.

"I want you to come with me," Zexion said, his voice still lacking any real excitement. "You'll gain powers you never imagined, you'll have the freedom to move around, to make your own decisions."

"And I ask you again," Riku said gripping the sword harder. "What do you want with me?" He started to slide closer, keeping his eyes firmly on the man. "I'm a prince, I don't need power. Nothing you say can make me want to go with you. How do I know you're not just tricking me?"

"Because, the Superior thinks you'll be a good addition to our little…family." Family? Just what kind of family could this be? "They don't want you with the young keyblade master, right?" Zexion folded his arms as he leaned back against the wall by the window. "But in this case, if you were both to join, you can both be together forever. No one there will voice a complaint nor will anyone try to separate you from each other. You'd be free to do what you want with each other." Maybe it was Riku's imagination, but he could swear he could see it all, see him and Sora together, laughing and kissing and loving each other without a worry in the world. Or maybe it was all just a dream in his mind. "It doesn't have to stay a dream…if you'll join us."

Riku frowned now, looking at the guy again, as if seeing him anew. "…And what you're saying is true, right?"

"I guess you wouldn't really know unless you went and found out for yourself." Something inside him told him not to believe the man, told him what Zexion said wasn't how things would end up. But that image, that dream of being with Sora forever with no more problems, pushed all logic from his mind.

"Alright," Riku said earning a stare from the male's one visible eye. "I'll go with you."

* * *

"Riku?" Sora knocked on the door then frowned when he didn't get an answer. "Riku, are you in there? Are you feeling ok?" He knocked again and, when he didn't get a reply, he rested his hand on the doorknob. "Riku, I'm coming in." He tried turning the knob but the door didn't budge, being that it was locked. "Riku, come on. Open up, will ya? Riku? Riku!"

* * *

When the whole kingdom seemed to shake from the explosion, Demyx knew it was time. He was quick to find all the kids, calling to them all with his gentle voice and telling them to stay close to him, that he'd find them a safe place to hide. The women and men didn't seem to have a problem with this, believing the children safe in the musician's hands as they left to help the survivors and to help the others put out the fires trying to take over a portion of the palace. If they only knew Demyx's real intent, they wouldn't have left the kids alone…hell they would tried to kill him. Tried, being the point.

_This is almost easier than stealing candy from a kid!_

Some of the littler kids clung to his legs causing him to pick up two of them as he kept going, shushing them and calming them with soothing words telling them everyone was going to be ok. It seemed to work though, the kids that were crying finally quieting down to hiccups as they followed along, staying close and holding on to his shirt so they wouldn't get lost. There were a lot of kids, so it was going to take him a bit to get them all there. But at least then, he can have some of them transported to the palace. There, they can filter out which would be useful and which would be pointless to keep. Though he wasn't so heartless that he'd want the kids dead, but then again between that and wandering around with no food or water, the death part sounded the more sensible solution for something someone would want in this situation.

"Come on, kids," Demyx said, "remember the Demyx song. When you're down and you're scared, and you're feeling kind of bad, just call on Demyx! And he'll come help you and save the day like a knight! So don't feel down! Call on Demyx!" The little kids sniffled, but they sang along anyway, even though the song did suck. But it wasn't the lyrics that were important, it was his way of knowing where the kids were. They would be calling his name looking for him, and he'd be there to help guide them to the right place. It'd be as simple as that.

* * *

"This way!" Larxene led the way, the women easily following after her, not questioning her on where she was taking them. Stupid people, they'd never understand would they? Even though she used to be a puny little human, she hoped she was never as dumb as these guys. They fell so easily into the traps set up for them.

"Ladies, come inside! Quickly!" Larxene held the door open, the girls rushing inside without hesitation. There were no questions about the kids, the women confident that Demyx was taking care of them. So far, they only thought that an explosion had went off. They didn't know what the real issue was yet. But they were going to find out tonight, in the darkness where the frightening monsters came out to play.

* * *

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!" One man yelled before he felt the blow of the pink scythe cutting across his chest. The only thing Marluxia could do was shake his head at the ignorant men. Even if they had not trusted him, they wouldn't have survived long. It would have been good if he could have saved some of the more strong willed ones to bring back to the castle, but he had a feeling none of them would have went willingly. Besides, it was much more entertaining killing them off anyway, after all the humiliation they placed on him.  
Normally, he wouldn't have followed someone's orders for so long, but this was one order where Marluxia willing did do. The sadistic grin that appeared on his face as he worked his way through the male crowd seemed to do a lot to work against their confidence.

"He's a demon!" Someone yelled out making him smile more if that was possible. He knew he was a demon, he was made for killing. The darkness had to have been the best thing to ever happen to him. He didn't mind doing the dirty work, the sight of flowing blood being beautiful in his eyes. Maybe it was the contrast with his own pink hair and scythe that made him think that. Or maybe deep down he envied the dark color that made others turn away in fear. Whatever the case, he liked the color.

"Do you like your kiss with death?" Marluxia said laughing as he swung the scythe wide taking down four men at one time. "Don't worry, I've got a lot of toys for you to play with." Plants popped out of the ground behind the unsuspecting males, shooting sharp needles towards the men and dropping them instantly with their poison. "Say goodnight."

TBC….

And I'll end it right there for now. I did something that messed up my usual format so uh...bare with me?


	16. Princely Garbs 16

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: It's been done for a while. I just got lazy...:hides: Sorry! Gah, bad game with sexy yummy males, bad!

Edit: Someone pointed out the fact that Selphie was in the same place as Riku and Kairi. So uh...just forget about that one.

Princely Garbs 16

"Hey!"

"Hm?" Looking away from Riku's door, Sora blinked turning towards the familiar voice. He stared, for a moment stunned to see the young male standing there staring at him before his eyes widened, his keyblade appearing in his hand. Instinctively he moved into a defensive stance, glaring at Roxas. He didn't take into account that the other hadn't even bothered to draw his weapons. And of course his bigger, more controlled friend was standing at his side staring at him. "What are you guys doing here?! Are you trying to get to Riku?!"

"Chill out," Roxas said frowning, almost glaring as he folded his arms over his chest, for a moment looking like he'd rather not be bothered with Sora. And for all Sora knew, that was true. Either these guys were here to kill him or they were here to take Riku away from him. He didn't know why, but he felt like there was something…different going on with Riku now. He just wished he could explain it…that last kiss definitely didn't help things either. "Listen to me when I'm talking to you!"

"Huh?" Sora blinked, realizing he'd blanked out and frowned. What was that all about anyway? Oh man, Leon would so have lectured him about zoning out in a dangerous situation.

"I was saying, I'm not here to fight," Roxas said blowing out a breath of air he'd been holding. "I'm here to talk to that guy."

Suspicion grew in Sora's eyes, though he did finally relax lowering his keyblade down to his side. "What guy?"

"You know. The one with the spiky hair."

"Do you mean Cloud!"

"Yeah, that guy!" Axel yelled from beside Roxas.

"Where is he?" Roxas asked, frowning a bit. He seemed to be in a bit of a rush. Sora frowned, wondering what Roxas would want with Cloud. Was it true that he wasn't here to hurt anyone? Maybe he was looking for the truth? Or maybe he was trying to kill Cloud. Then again, would he have come asking Sora for help if that were the case. But what if… "He's…oh, he's not here right now. He's gone back because of a problem."

"A problem?" Roxas frowned at that, glancing up at his big friend before he looked at Sora again. "What sort of problem?"

Now Sora was really confused as he frowned even more. "Radiant Garden is under attack by the darkness."

"I don't remember hear…" cursing, Roxas turned to Axel. "Do you think they did it?"

"It's possible," Axel said resting a finger against his lips. "I do recall hearing them saying something about capturing the prince there or something. But there'd really be no way they could have gott-"

"Riku?!" Sora's eyes widened as he turned looking at Riku's door. Was it possible? "Riku!" He tried turning the nozzle but the door wouldn't open, being locked from the other side. He looked down at his keyblade before he took it pointing it to the door, a white light shooting out and into the lock giving a click. Reaching out again, he prayed that what he was thinking wasn't true as he quickly opened the door doing inside. "Riku!"

He stopped just inside the door, looking around but not finding anything of his best friend. There was no signs of a struggle, no opened windows for escape, nothing. It was just like…no one had ever been there. "Riku…Riku!"

"Looks like they got him," Axel said coming inside before he ended up jumping back as Sora swung his keyblade at him. "Whoa! Calm down!" His chakras came out as Axel blocked the attacks being pushed on him by the rabid keyblader. "Hey, watch it!"

"What did you guys with him?! Where's Riku?!" Sora glared, the tears gathering in his eyes even as he kept swinging the keyblade, not relenting an inch. "This is you guys doing, isn't it?! You guys took Riku!"

"Whoa, I said we didn't do it! We didn't take your crazy friend! Calm down!"

Sora kept glaring, finding his keyblade pressing up against Roxas's, the other staring at him looking too calm and steady. "Calm down," Roxas said slowly pushing the keyblade down with his own. "Would we really bother seeing you if we'd taken your friend? Right now, we need to think."

"Yeah," Axel said, frowning as he inspected his chakras seeing markings on them due to the keyblade. "Really we should be trying to figure out why, if the they did, the Organization kidnapped the prince. I would have thought they would have been after Sora here."

"If it's what I'm thinking," Roxas said, Sora finally calming down enough to pay attention, "then they're using him as bait to capture him."

"Capture me?" Sora frowned before throwing his hand to the side. "There's no WAY I'm letting that happen! If they took Riku, then I'll just have to go rescue him!"

"Use your brain!" Roxas yelled out grabbing Sora's shoulders and pushing him into the wall. "Why fall for someone's trap like that?! At least come up with a plan before doing something so stupid and reckless!"

"If Riku needs my help then I'm going to do what I can to get to him!" Sora yelled pushing Roxas away roughly. "I'm his protector, it's my duty!"

"I can't believe you're my twin brother," Roxas said shaking his head.

"I can't believe it either," a voice said from the door causing the two of them to turn, weapons coming out. "Whoa whoa, relax," the tall dark figure said grinning at them.

"King Mickey!" Sora smiled happy to see someone he knew…before he frowned staring at the clothing Mickey was wearing, a very red looking outfit. Even though it was too much red in Sora's opinion, they king definitely made it look good, regardless. "…Why are you dressed like that?"

"Why not?" The king said grinning at Sora. "We're going to go save the prince aren't we?" Donald and Goofy were right behind him looking ready for action. "Do you want to help us out, Roxas?" Mickey said looking at the named boy.

Roxas frowned staring at him. "How did you know my name?"

"You're a prince of Kingdom Hearts," Mickey said smiling as if that were a good enough answer. "Kidnapped or not, I'd remember the young prince Roxas as much as I'd remember the young prince Sora."

"…Kidnapped?"

"We'll tell you about it later," Sora said as he started following Mickey out the door. "Right now, we need to help save Riku." He didn't wait to see if the other two decided to follow him, only wanting to get to Riku as soon as possible.

"Things have been a mess here while you two decided to go run off with the prince."

Leon frowned noticing just by the look how frustrated Seifer was, even though he didn't fully show it on his face. He was always trying to be the tough guy. Maybe not tougher than Leon himself though, even if the two of them did sometimes have a bitter rivalry. Still, Seifer was really no match against him, hands down. His only true competition was with Cloud, the two of them being far too skilled. "And now the prince's cousin went missing."

"Are you sure she's not in hiding?" Cloud asked, grateful for the update on the situation even though everything was in chaos. Leon frowned thinking about it. Chaos…everything was in chaos. Though there was, surprisingly, nothing going on right now in the way of fighting, it was obvious that something did break out here. Not only was the palace completely trashed and in disarray, but there was no signs of anyone living minus the few lucky ones and a handful of guards that were currently outside the little room standing guard.

"We're not even sure," Seifer said folding his arms though his eyes were glancing around watchfully, almost like he was preparing for something to just pop out. "Right now, even the kids are missing. Most of the men were found dead. Slashed in half by whatever attacked them. It wasn't a pretty sight, believe me. The king's safe right now, hidden in that the room behind the throne. Some of the women were found dead though we didn't find all of them." Sighing he pushed up from the wall he was leaning on. "I don't know what's going on but it's not good."

"Who are the enemy?" Leon asked, frowning as he rested a hand on the gunblade at his side, almost like the one Seifer was holding, though in his opinion his was bigger and better. He was, however, more bothered by what happened than anything else. Did the darkness come through and wipe everyone out? Just thinking about this was making his head swim in an unpleasant way.

"We're not really sure," Seifer said frowning. "Aerith let in a few suspicious looking people earlier. The others don't agree with me, but I think they caused all of this. I can't find any of them though. I can't find Aerith or Cid either." He frowned looking back at the closed door leading to the king. "It's been quiet lately. I don't know what the enemy is after. This doesn't make any sense. What do they want?"

"I don't know," Leon said, his eyes glancing to the closed door where the king was. If his thoughts were anywhere that Cloud's were, he was wondering why the king hadn't bothered to come out and see them. But then considering how dangerous things were right now, it was better to keep the king locked up at all times. "But we need to find out. Let's set up surveillance around the palace. Seifer." The named boy looked up at his name, frowning but not about to dispute if it meant finding out anything. "Go check out the west wing of the palace. Take a couple of soldiers with you. I want you to be in charged. Look for survivors, clues, anything that will give us a heads up about what to do next." He turned to his other side, staring at the brilliant, I'm ready for anything, look in Cloud's eyes before he had to shake his head to concentrate. "Cloud, you do the same on the east wing. If either of you don't return in the next thirty minutes, I'll assume the worst. But I'm expecting you to come back, understood?"

"Yes sir!" Both males yelled out at the same time as they moved into attention.  
"I'll stay here and guard the king." This would also be a good time to see if he couldn't find anything else out. The king had a load of information he was keeping from them. And Leon was about to find out what he could. If it could help in any way, he wanted to know it. "If either of you find Cid, have him start up preparations for the airship. Once you return, we'll start on loading anything and everything that's important onto the ship. Staying here in the palace is out of the question right now. We're going to have to move to the air whether we find Cid or not, understood?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Remember, come back in the next thirty minutes. Dismissed."

* * *

"Welcome to the Organization's place of business," the tall male said with the gray hair and dark skin, a part of which confused him since to Riku, the man didn't look that much older than he did. He didn't know anything about these people, and he was only following on a promise of being able to stay with Sora forever, but that didn't mean he had to completely trust these guys. What exactly did they want with him? That's what he wanted to know. "I'm sure you're wondering what we want with you."

"That would answer a lot of questions quickly if you told me," Riku said watching the tall male through narrowed eyes but not giving into his nervousness of being in this place. Something just…didn't feel right about the whole thing.

"Well it would, wouldn't it," the man said walking past Riku casually. "You may call me Xemnas, by the way."

"I didn't ask for your name," Riku said turning and looking at the man's back as he stopped. "I want to know what you plan to do with me. You brought me here for a reason, and I seriously doubt it's because of what your friend said." Saying those words, he glanced over at the young male standing by the wall looking for all the world like he could care less about what was happening.

"You're right," Xenmas said slowly turning to look at him. "You're absolutely right. I brought you here because I want you to join me."

"…To…what?"

"Join us in our cause," he said lifting his hands up to the sky. "Bring darkness and chaos to the world. This is the only way these pitiful humans will learn anything. They will learn to worship me as their leader. Only then will true peace, true ruler ship exist."

Eyes wide, Riku stared at the man he could only call lunatic. "Why would I help you with something like that? What makes you think I'd let you do what you please?!"

"Because," Xenmas said looking down at him as he slowly lowered his arms. "I hold the lives of your people in my hands."

"…What do you mean by that?" Riku demanded, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the male, feeling like that was a threat. But there was no way anyone could do anything to Radiant Garden, not with a strong ruler like his grandfather.

"Come, walk with me," Xenmas said heading out the door leaving Riku with no choice but to follow. The male standing up against the wall that had brought him here in the first place, didn't even move in inch. Exactly who were these people? Or what were they if they weren't human? Riku followed Xemnas, the walk seeming longer than he had expected as he kept up glancing around seeing only white wall after white wall.

For some guy that was talking about darkness, he sure seemed to like white a lot. There was no way he was going to be able to memorize where he was. He wondered how the people living here did it. This place was huge, even bigger than his home. Yet it didn't seem like anyone was living there. He hadn't seen a single person since he'd gotten there, despite the guy with the hair and his four friends. The place just seemed void of the living. It was just…dead.

"Take a look." Riku blinked and frowned finding the big man standing by a door leading to god knows where. This was definitely making Riku uncomfortable. The guy was way too comfortable considering that Riku had already said he wasn't about to cooperate. So what was it inside the room? He heard the sound of movement and murmured sounds and frowned. Whatever it was, it was alive and by the sounds of it, it had friends.

As he got closer to the door, moving quietly slow so he wouldn't disturb what was on the other side, he thought he heard a cry from a small child. At first that stopped him. Why would there be a child here? The thought finally started to sink into his head as he rushed quickly going through the door. He saw several scared eyes staring at him, the sounds of whimpering out of fear reaching his ears.

"What is this?!" Riku yelled out as he turned quickly glaring at Xemnas, the very man standing in the doorway to the room and blocking out the only exit. "These…these are…." Riku looked back at the scared children, even seeing Kairi there holding the children close and trying to calm them down. Though he was worried a by the fact that he didn't see Tidus, Wakka, or Selphie, he was relieved that his cousin and the children appeared to be safe from harm. "Why are they here?!"

"They're here to make a point, and not just them," Xemnas said letting his eyes rest on the children. "The women from your kingdom too. I'm afraid the majority of the males didn't make it though."

"You bastard!" Riku reached for his sword, frowning when he didn't feel it at his side, realizing now that he was in trouble. "You have no right hurting the people of my kingdom!"

"Oh I have all the right I need," Xenmas said as he turned leaving the room and closing the door before Riku could stop him. "Now be a good boy and sit," he said through the door. "I have more important business to handle. I'll give you time to think about it…or I may have to do something a bit…on the rash side." Growling, Riku ran to the door, trying it before he slammed both his hands against it, missing the sound of Xenmas walking away.

"Damn it!" He turned around, finding the children staring at him and sighed brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Ok…calm down…we're going to get out of this."

"Riku…"Kairi said softly, looking like she needed comfort herself even though she was doing her best for the children. "Riku…where's Sora?"

Sighing again, Riku looked at Kairi, giving her as reassuring a smile as he could as he walked over ruffling one young kid's head doing the best he could to make them feel better. "He's safe right now. I won't say where but he is safe." He was hoping Sora was safe but if those guys could get to him then they could get to Sora. But Sora was strong, he could take care of himself. It was Xenmas he was worried about right now. What was he planning to do if Riku said no? "Right now everyone needs to stick together. We'll get out of this, I promise."

"I hope so," Kairi said softly. She was afraid. And Riku didn't blame her. What was he supposed to do? Should he go with Xenmas's plan so that his friends and family could be freed? Or….

Leon sighed closing his eyes for a moment and rubbing a hand against his forehead before he opened his eyes looking over at the closed door. It was a little too quiet in there in his opinion. He knew it wasn't easy for anyone to get inside unless Ansem unlocked the door's magical barrier from the inside. Still…wouldn't he have come out to check on things by now? Walking over to the door, Leon knocked on it. At first there wasn't a reply, and he had to try again. Hoping that the king had just missed the sound and-

"Enter," Ansem said quietly, Leon not even hesitating to go inside, though he was still holding his gunblade in his hand.

"King Ansem," Leon as he was opening the door. "Are you al….?" He stopped at the door, eyes staring at the bleeding king panting hard and lounged in the chair. "King Ansem!" He started to run towards him but Ansem quickly held up a hand stopping him from moving.

"Don't come any closer," Ansem said, his voice being the loudest thing in the room even though he spoke softly. "If you get too close, the poison will get you too."

"King Ansem, we need to treat the infection," Leon said, his eyes searching and finding the bleeding arm seeing the darkening of the skin.

"There's no help for me now," King Ansem said, holding the arm carefully in one hand. "Once the darkness gets into your body, there's no way to stop. And once it takes over, I won't even be human anymore."

_Darkness? Into your body? What is he talking about?!_

Leon opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't find any words, his eyes wide as he stared, something inside of him stirring at being faced with this. "How are Riku and Sora?" the king asked, the darkness on his arm spreading upwards rapidly even as he spoke. There was no telling what other places held the darkness as well. Or maybe Leon just didn't want to know, just wanted answers on how to fix it.

"I…they're…they're fine, your majesty," Leon said, doing his best to follow Ansem's directions even though he wanted desperately to help his old friend. "Your majesty, there has to be a way to stop-"

"There is none." Ansem repeated, giving a little bit more force before he started coughing. "My time is up," he said struggling slightly as he pushed to his feet. "It's now up to Riku and Sora to continue on living and helping the world. I regret that I wasn't able to…be a better guardian to him. Please, take care of those boys for me." The grin that was on Ansem's face didn't comfort him any, but when he saw Ansem pulling the dagger from his side he knew he'd be too late even as he started running towards Ansem in an attempt to try and stop him.

The dagger landed home, straight in to the heart of the king of Radiant Garden, not a sound escaping the dying lips as Ansem collapsed onto the ground. Ansem's body started to dissipate, looking like it was eating itself up as it disappeared, becoming nothing but dust that eventually disappeared too. Nothing was left of Ansem, nothing but the clothes he'd worn, the dagger he'd used to stab himself, and a small envelope that floated unceremoniously to land at Leon's feet.

But Leon's eyes weren't on the letter as he fell to his knees, they stayed on the clothing of the dead king. Then he clenched them shut trying to stop any tears from trying to get free. "Damn you! You fool! We could have done something!"

TBC….

...Yep...that's how that chapter ends. I definitely can see alot of things happening in the new few chapters, and probably not for the good. We'll see. Anyway, I won't say look for the next part soon but it will show up...eventually. :Pretty slow along updates but isn't gonna quit:

Damn you, Ansem!

Poison? Has he been poisoned?

There has to be another way out of this!

* * *

Just like I'll be if I don't get out of there.

Kairi's missing?

Please be ok, Riku. I'm coming to save you!

* * *


	17. Princely Garbs 17

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comments: Yay faster update ever! And a pretty long chapter too! And enter new character!

Princely Garbs 17

_We can't stay here forever._

Riku moved his eyes over the wall, running his hands over at the same time trying to find some way out of there. He was desperate for an escape, not so much for himself but for the children trapped here and Kairi. Neither one of them deserved to be put through this. Maybe he'd have been better off if he hadn't of came…no, there's no way he would have been able to sit comfortably knowing his people were in danger. But he definitely wasn't doing them any good right now either.

"Damn it!" He slammed his fist up against the wall then cursed himself for the outburst. He was letting his emotions get away from him. Even if the kids were asleep, he didn't want to alarm them or wake them up. It was hard enough getting them to even sleep at all, the group of them still scared to death.

"Riku?" Hearing his name, Riku looked over sitting Kairi sitting up and rubbing at her eyes tiredly. Apparently, he did wake up one person.

"Go back to sleep, Kairi," he said returning his attention to the walls, looking for and opening to find any opens that might hint at a weakened spot. He wasn't finding a single thing though. "I'll get us out of this, I promise." He didn't even hear her move, his eyes too busy frantically searching for an escape. There had to be a weakened, even the castle apparently had weaknesses.

"We can work better if we do it together," Kairi said hugging him slightly from behind. "You're not alone."

Riku went still, his body tensing slightly as he closed his eyes. Even now, after so much time, he wasn't all that fond or comfortable with being touched. And even though Kairi was his cousin, he just wasn't as open with her as he was with Sora. There were a lot of things that Sora helped him to realize. Sora…was the only one who could make him smile and feel so happy.

_I wonder…if he's still ok?_

"I'm the prince of Radiant Garden," he said resting his forehead against the wall, finding some comfort in the darkness hiding his vulnerable weak points. "It's my duty as the future king to protect my people but…." He bared his teeth, clenching his hands at his sides angrily. What good am I here? I can't protect them! I can't even protect myself!"

"Shh…shhh it's ok." She gently petted his back, the tension there starting to slowly bleed out as he started to calm down. "It'll be ok."

"It won't be if I can't get us out of here," he said slipping away slightly as he started searching for a way out again. "You should go get some rest."

"I'm staying right here."

Riku shook his head, finally turning to look at her, seeing nothing more than an outline of her in the darkness. "The kids are going to need one of us awake so they're not scared. All of this darkness is enough to make even me a little freaked out."

He thought he saw a small outline of her smile as she shook her head. "Just remember," she said pointing a finger at the small amount of light coming from under the door. "There's always a little light hiding in the darkness. It just needs…a little push to come out. That's all."

"A little push, huh? Thanks for the advice." Riku actually felt himself smile a bit as he looked towards the door at the little light." I'll take it to heart." Shaking his head slightly he turned his attention back to the wall and his futile search. "Now, go get some rest, ok?"

"Yeah ok," she replied smiling and patting his back before walking back over to her little resting spot.

* * *

Cloud found himself walking down the hallway, taking in what he could with his eyes with the two soldiers on either side of him just as tense as he was. He didn't want to take the chance that something from the darkness would jump out right at the moment and attack them. In fact, he has his sword ready just in case something like that was to happen. As they moved, they were sure to check every room they came across, finding only empty, messy rooms stuck in disarray. But eventually he found a spot that didn't seem to be disrupted by chaos like the rest of them rooms. Why was that? Did the enemy stop after a certain point? Maybe they had gotten what they wanted. "You two, check the rooms on the left. I'll check the rooms on the right."

"Yes sir!"

Nodding his head, his headed off going from one room to the next of the five rooms on his side. He first he didn't think he was getting anywhere. It was when he was in the fourth room and was getting ready to leave that he just about gave up. In all, they'd checked well over 40 rooms, and all of them had the same results. There was no one inside of them. "This is getting us no where." He started to leave, about to go check the last room when he thought he heard a noise from somewhere behind him and froze, the sword held tightly in his hand.

_What was that?_

Frowning slightly, he waited to hear the sound again but nothing happened. Turning towards where he thought he'd heard the sound, he saw a closet on one wall, a lot of junk blocking it keeping it from being open. Curious, Cloud went over, sitting the sword down as he worked removing the junk out of the way. Again he hesitated, not sure if it was something there or not. What if it wasn't human and was one of the creatures. Frowning, Cloud rested his hand on the door knob deciding to take his chances. If he could pretend alarming whatever was inside, he would. Quickly, his sword prepared, Cloud snatched the door open, three forms stumbling out of the closet.

"Ah!"

Cloud jumped back quickly at the sound, prepared for the attack that didn't come. Blinking his eyes, he stared at the three on the floor, recognizing them instantly. "Tidus? Selphie? Wakka? What are you guys doing here?"

"Cloud!" Tidus jumped up, apparently excited about being found by a human and not a monster. "Man, am I glad to see you! For a moment there, I thought you were one of those things trying to get us! I mean, you almost got hurt! He was holding his training stick, looking like he wanted to hurt something, minus the shaking of his hands. There was no way that little thing was going to hurt anyone.

"Yeah right," Selphie said apparently thinking the same thing as Cloud did. "You were crying for your mommy a few moments ago!"

"I was not!" He pouted lowering the wooden sword. "I wasn't…."

Cloud didn't care if he was or not. He was just glad to see the group of them ok. "At least you're safe." He almost missed seeing the three children peeking out of the closet at him. He gave them a slight smile trying to give some as much reassurance as he could. "Don't worry you're safe now."

"Hm?" Tidus glanced back behind him, and seeing the children, seemed to understand as he nodded his head. "Oh that's right. We were able to save these three from being brainwashed by that crack job, Demyx."

_Brainwashed?_

"What do you mean?"

"They took all the kids, ya." Wakka said rubbing at his nose. "All the kids but these. The guy was singing this weird song and they all just followed him singing along."

"We were lucky to snap these three out of it," Selphie said walking over and resting her hands on the youngest one's shoulder. "I think we got lucky."

"Yeah and we ran in here to hide but I guess a lot of stuff blocked the door during the attack soo…"

"So you got stuck." Cloud said nodding his head understanding. "Then it's a good thing you made some noise or else I would have overlooked it." He thought about going back and double checking the other rooms just in case.

"So where's Sora and Riku?" Tidus asked, leaning close as he stared up at his commander.'

"Someplace safe. There's no need to be thinking about them. Right now you should only be thinking about getting yourself and your friends to safety. Understood?"

"Ah!" Tidus quickly went to attention. "Yes Sir!"

"Good." Cloud couldn't help ruffling his hair slightly as he walked past heading out of the room. "Let's check the other rooms first before we head back." He had to admit, he wanted to get back and see Leon as soon as possible. He couldn't explain that want but all he knew was that he wanted it to happen. The other soldiers met him out in the hallway, done with their search and having found at least four women, two children, and two males. It made Cloud glad to know that not everyone had been taken away. "I'll check out the last room then we'll go ahead and head back. Let's also make a stop by the armory on the way back so that everyone's prepared in case of an attack."

The last room was checked, two older children found inside before he came back out ready to lead the group down the hallway. He didn't even have to brief them on the situation; sure they knew what was almost at least to some degree. They'd been attacked and now the castle was in shambles. They needed to stay quiet in case there were still enemies around, human or not. Even the children didn't make a fuss as they walked.

"Tidus."

"Hm?" The name boy walked up to him starting to walk beside him. "Y-Yes Commander Cloud sir?"

Cloud glanced at him before looking toward again not slowing down in their walking. "If something were to happen, can I count on you and these soldiers to protect everyone and get them to Leon safely?"

Tidus blinked at that, apparently not prepared to hear something like that. "Do you think something's going to happen?"

Cloud didn't answer his question, instead he kept walking giving a question of his own. "Can you make that promise and keep it?"

"Ah…Y-yes sir. I promise."

"Good." Cloud nodded his head, feeling only slightly relieved. He didn't know why but he had a feeling something was about to happen. "It's always good to be prepared." Because of how low he said it, he wasn't too sure if he was talking to Tidus or to himself, but Tidus did give him a small "yes sir," in reply. "When we get to the armory, I want you to get a sword along with the other males. The women will carry some daggers since they're easier to handle, and the kids need to stick closer to the adults at all times. We can at least see about getting them some protective gear in any case."

"Glad you included me in this too, ya," Wakka said walking on the other side of Tidus. "I'm glad to help out."

"I'm grateful for all the help," Cloud said coming to a stop in front of the room, a insignia of a sword and shield carved into the door signaling that this was the armory room. "All of us don't need to go inside. It something happened, then we'd all be trapped. I'll take Wakka, and Tidus with me to gather us some good weapons. The rest of you stay out here and keep together. No wondering off."

"Yes sir! Understood!"

_I hope this paranoia I'm feeling is just in my head._

* * *

"Where the hell is he hiding?!" Frowning, Seifer looked down the hallway, hands on his hips before he turned his eyes to the two soldiers following him. "All right, spread out and look for survivors. I'm going into the old kooks little playroom and-­"

"Who you callin an old kook?!"

"?!" The voice was easily recognizable even before a small toaster flew past Seifer's head smashing into the wall behind him. "What the hell?! Are you crazy you old man!"

"I'll show you crazy you…." Grumbling, Cid stared out the room scratching at his head and biting on the end of an almost dead cig. "Anyway, I need to finish off this last piece for the Highwind, but I can't find that crazy wizard anywhere."

"He went back to where Riku and Sora are."

"Well I need him here, damn it!" Turning, Cid headed back into the room before coming back and poking his head out glaring at Seifer. "You coming in or not? I'm going to need some help moving this thing and I'm not about to force Aerith to do it."

"Aerith is with you?" He had to admit, he felt a little bit better knowing the girl was safe. "Glad she's safe. But we need to get going, we don't have time for all this –what the hell is that?" Sitting and taking up the whole table in the center of Cid's little lab, was a large capsule looking thing, that kind of looked like a pill, except there was some weird white looking gel on the inside that could be seen through the clear casing surrounding it. "This is what we're gonna use to power the ship. Now grab the other end and let's move this sucker."

Seifer was still staring at it, unable to bring himself to say much more than an "Uh yeah," at the unsightly thing. Sighing, Seifer just gave up on the old man shaking his head back and forth. "Let's get this over with already." Pushing up his sleeves, Seifer got ready to pick up the other side.

"Alright then," Cid said grinning around the cig. "Now you're getting into it!"

* * *

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Cloud waited until he received a nod from everyone before he started moving down the hallway. "Then let's go." He found himself thinking about Leon again, wondering why he thought so much of him. He remembered back at Magic Kingdom when Mickey had picked on him about it, teasing him about the way he held the other so close to him protectively. Despite saying he was just helping a comrade, it was making Cloud start to wonder about himself. What kind of feeling was it that Cloud felt for the tall brunet? He did feel companionship but…what about that other part? The part that made his heart beat faster and made his hands sweat? He blushed slightly thinking that maybe…just made he l-

Pausing where he was, Cloud turned quickly pulling the sword out and staring down in the direction they'd just come from.

"What's wrong?" Tidus asked blinking and sounding a bit impatient to be there.

"Nothing," Cloud said frowning knowing it was something. "Go on ahead, keep moving."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Now go." Cloud held onto the sword tighter, that feeling of being watching not going away. He knew he wasn't imagining it. With all his years of training and of being a soldier, he knew he wasn't imagining a thing. Something was to there waiting. And he was NOT about to let it have its way. "Remember what you promised me."

Frowning at the reminded, Tidus gave a very brief nod of his head. "Yes sir."

"Be careful," Selphie whispered softly.

"We'll take care of the girls and the kiddies," Wakka said holding his own sword ready. "Don't you worry about that, ya."

"Alright, I'll catch up as soon as I can, now go!" He heard them running, his back staying to them as he kept looking down the hallway seeing nothing but a whole bunch of open doors that were supposed to house nothing but clothes and a place void of the living.

_Where is it?!_

"Aww, you're the only one playing with me today?" A figure stepped out of one of the rooms, looking young and cheeky as he looked at Cloud. Was this the enemy? He looked to happy and innocent to be evil.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked, not taking his sword down.

"Me?" Blinking, the male pointed to himself like he was surprised the blond was talking to him. My name's Demyx. I'm part of the Organization."

* * *

Riku felt a power surging through him making his body feel warm. It was like being submerged in warm water except he wasn't drowning.

_What is this feeling?_

Opening his eyes, he felt like he was floating in darkness, or maybe he was since he didn't see anything else. The only like he saw was the one hovering up above him, a very familiar, special light to him. "Sora…"

He blinked his eyes feeling a sluggishness taking over his body. "Sora…is that you?" He reached out barely seeing the figure floating in front of the light and reaching out towards him. Was he trying to save him? "What is…it?" Smiling sadly, the figure started to pull away fading back into the light again, the light receding back into the darkness he'd woken up from as he closed his eyes again.

"Riku…"

Opening his eyes again he found himself back inside that same dark room, the sounds of the children still asleep reaching his ears. Was his just imagining that?

"Riku…are you ok?" He felt someone push at his arm, a vision outlined in the darkness looking like Sora to him before he shook his head, Kairi's features taking over again.

"Y-yeah…." Holding his head he sat up. "I'm fine."

"Smiling, Kairi nodded her head leading back from him. "That's good. You kept mumbling about something…I was a little worried. I thought you might have been getting a fever or something."

"Sorry about that," Riku said looking down at his hand in the darkness and feeling like he could still feel that warmth from before. "I guess I fell asleep."

"The kids are starting to wake up. They're getting hungry. How long will we be stuck here?" Sighing, she looked away from him towards the children huddled together. "What are they going to do to us?" Riku didn't reply, his eyes trailing over towards the light shining under the door. "Riku?"

Startled, Riku looked back in the direction Kairi was in. "Sorry, what?"

He could tell Kairi was a little upset and probably worried about him. But he couldn't help where he mind was going. He couldn't help thinking about Sora and his own personal dedication to his kingdom. "I was saying-" The opening of the door quickly silenced the both of them, their eyes shutting quickly against the brightness of the light coming inside. Through his fingers, Riku watched seeing the man from before coming in and staring at them all before his eyes rested on the young prince.

"Are you ready to cooperate now?"

Glaring, Riku pushed himself up to his feet not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of talking to him while he was basically laying down. Sadly, it didn't help him to feel any better since the guy was tall and felt more intimidating. "I told you before. Helping you to destroy the world isn't on my list of things to do."

"I figured as much. How about you come take a walk with me?" The way he said it was like he was asking someone out for a cup of tea. But that didn't change the odd look to his eyes that, in Riku's opinion, resembled someone not even alive. Xemnas must have taken his silence for something else because then he added, "Don't worry, you can bring your cousin along so you don't feel so alone. The children will have to stay, however." Riku had opened his mouth to disagree but the other quickly interrupted him. "And no worries. They won't be harmed as long as you cooperate with me." Glancing back, his eyes glanced over the scared children, some of them crying, the rest on the figure of a really huge man that was standing in the room with them, his arms folded.

_When did he get there?!_

Startled, Riku started to go into the room but Xenmas rested a hand on his shoulder. "Stay. He won't hurt them, he'll only make sure they are well fed. We can't have the children starving on us." Turning, Xenmas started down the hallway, apparently expecting Riku to follow him. "The only thing you need to worry about is what I'm about to show you."

Riku glanced over at Kairi not liking this one bit. But they didn't have a choice. They'd be as good as dead if he didn't go along with this. Glaring heatedly at the silver haired male's back, Riku started to follow him anyway, Kairi keeping up close beside him. "If you were to join us," Xenmas started saying as Riku caught up to him, "you'd e able to keep your true appearance, though you'd be unable to keep your emotion. However, you'd be far more powerful than you are now."

"I said I'm not joining you. Or do you have a hearing problem?"

Chuckling slightly, Xenmas glanced over his shoulder at Riku. "Spunky. You'd prove to be interesting to us. You might say no now but," something about the way Xenmas looked at him gave him a bad feeling as he continued saying, "I can guarantee you'll change your mind after seeing what I'm about to show you." Riku frowned as they stopped in front of yet another, that feeling he got from last time growing stronger. It couldn't be any worse than those children been trapped here, could it? The door opened and this time all three of them entered finding themselves in something like a lab, machinery blazing and beeping all around him almost sounding like music. This was definitely not something they had anyway.

There was someone else in the room, a male by the looks of his features. He seemed to be engrossed in his work, not even looking up as they entered.

"Vexen," Xenmas said as he stopped by the man, the other not even startled by the unexpected voice. "Show our guest the power of the Organization." A small frown showed up on Vexen's lips as he lifted up the goggles he'd been wearing and glanced back at Riku before taking them off. "Of course, Superior." He walked over to where there was a huge monitor in the wall set up and leaned over the control panel before he pushed a single button on it. Instantly an image showed up making both Riku and Kairi gasp in horror as they stared at it.

"Mom!" Kairi yelled out, though the woman on the monitor didn't hear cause of her ears being covered, a blind fold covering her eyes. She was tied up so she couldn't escape.

"This is why you should join us, prince," Xenmas said pointing at the screen before he yelled out, "Commence!" With a simple push of the button, the room began to fill up with a weird misty black smoke that was quickly overtaking the room.

"Mom! MOM!"

"What is that?!" Riku yelled out glaring at Xenmas. "Stop it! Stop what you're doing right now!" When neither of the males moved, he started to move himself, instinct to force Vexen to stop if he had to. "Stop it! Ah!" He found himself with his face against the floor, his arms pulled behind his back by the tall male he'd seen at the door to Kingdom Hearts with with dreadlocks.

"Stay still."

"Let go!"

"Stop this!" Kairi yelled out. "MOM!" She tried to move too but Riku could see she was being held back by the guy with the eyepatch. Xigbar, wasn't it? A glance at the screen showed Kairi's mom not fairing well as she cough and choked on the black smoke. Her skin started to change colors becoming darker, her coughing turning to animalistic smiles and then into nothingness as she became silent all together despite how she was thrashing around.

"What's happening to her?!"

Her body shrunk down, two black antennae appearing on her head. And her small size, the blindfold didn't even stay on as her eyes started to glow a bright yellow.

The wide eyes of his cousin became horrified as she stopped moving falling to her knees as she stared at the screen, tears wetting up her cheek. "Mom…."

"Kairi!" Growling in anger, Riku turned heated eyes on the main who caused this, his body trembling as it gave off its own glow. "You'll pay for this!" He struggled again, feeling something hard forming in his hand as he tried to get free. "I won't let you get away with-ugh…." A blinding pain came to the back of his head, the thing he'd been holding finishing as he felt himself blacking out.

* * *

"Xaldin!"

"Don't worry, Superior." Xaldin said not even sounding worried by the angry call of his name. "I just knocked him out. I know how important your little prince is."

Nodding his head slightly, Xemnas allowed himself to calm down. "Good. Especially knowing that he has the same power as the keyblader." He turned his eyes onto the screen looking at the little creature wondering around inside the room. "It seems your little clone experiment worked well too. In fact…it might prove useful in the future."

"C….Clone?" Kairi said, her cheeks still wet though now at that word she seemed to be paying attention again looking at Xenmas.

"Yes," Xenmas said staring at the girl. "A clone, a simple toy. We'd have no reason to waste such experiments on the real thing. Xigbar, return her now."

"Sure but what about the prince?"

"Leave him," Vexen said looking at Xenmas before looking back at the screen. "I want to run a few test on him."

"Just like that last guy?" Xigbar said grinning as he hoisted the girl over one shoulder after knocking her out.

"Something to that extent," Vexen said not even turning around.

"Whatever rocks your boat, dude."

"And how is everything else?" Xaldin asked, picking up the prince.

"Good," another voice said causing the taller male to turn around to see Saix standing beside him. "Roxas is leading the keyblader straight to us. And the other issues will be taken care of soon."

"Good good." Xenmas turned starting towards door. He felt like his plans were coming together nicely. Soon he'd have what he wanted, then after that he didn't care what else happened. "Send Demyx to keep an eye on him then."

Saix hesitated at that then frowned. "…Demyx hasn't returned from Radiant Garden yet."

Stopping where he was, Xenmas frowned as he looked back at Saix. "Why is that?"

Saix could only shrug his shoulders, not caring much either way. "He's somewhat of a loose cannon. He never did really fit into the picture in my opinion, Superior."

"Fine," Xenmas said shaking his head and leaving out the door. "Just continued as planned."

* * *

"…What is that?"

"Damn it, it's part of the engine!" Cid yelled out glaring at Leon for even thinking of asking a question like that. Well, not that Leon could even figure out what the contraction was since it just looked like…a giant banana or something. "It's for the fucking ship! We gotta install it before we can even get off the ground!"

"I see…." He wasn't really paying attention, however, his mind still on the events that had passed. He'd taken the liberty of keeping the letter with him, still unopened since it'd been addressed to Riku himself. It wouldn't have been right to read it. Still….for something like this to happen…especially now of all times…

_Damn it Ansem…what am I supposed to do?_

He was so busy being distracted that he hadn't noticed the look that pasted between Seifer and Cid before the two of them looked at him again. "Is somethin going on we need to know 'bout?"

"The king's dead," Leon said not even sugarcoating it. The two of them couldn't even make out what it meant, not until it sunk in anyway. It could have been a really harsh joke, but then Leon wasn't the type to make jokes, especially about something like this.

"WHAT?!" The end Seifer was holding up fell from his hands as he stared in shock at Leon.

"Fuck!" Cid cursed out, probably as much for hearing the news as it was at having his precious part dropped so carelessly.

Glaring, Seifer walked up to Leon and grabbed his collar pulling him close. 'What are you saying?!"

Leon only returned the glare as he pushed Seifer off him, his eyes burning for some reason. "I said he's dead!" he yelled out again before lowering his voice, not liking that the group of survivors Seifer had found were looking at them. Hopefully they wouldn't get who the 'he' was that they were talking about.

Glaring still, Seifer bit at his jaw in anger as he ran off going into the room, Leon quick to follow him and stopping just inside the door. Cid was right behind him as they looked to see Seifer holding up what used to be the king's clothing he'd been just wearing, the blood on it still fresh. "What are these?!" Seifer yelled throwing the clothes so they landed on the floor in front of Leon. "Where is he?!"

Leon just looked away, not even wanting to see the articles of clothing, the sight of the king finishing before his eyes after stabbing himself still fresh. Why, why hadn't he waited? There could have been some way to stop it?! Even Aerith could have helped!

Leon not answering must have fired Seifer up even more as he started walking towards him threateningly, his own eyes slightly red and blinking far faster than usual. "Answer me!"

"Kid, give it a rest!" Cid didn't look too happy either, but at least he seemed to be more level headed at the moment than Leon did. "I know you thought of Ansem as a father. But you've got to remember, so did Leon. Ansem was the one who found the two of you on the streets. Course, I found Aerith and Yuffie but…." Shaking his head, he returned to the point at hand. "All I'm sayin is, I don't know how he died, I don't want to know how he died, but I do know he'd be disappointed to see you two going at each other like this. If he's dead, he's in a better place than this hellhole right now. And if he's anything like what I think he is, he'd want us to fix this hellhole up so the folks can start living life like they should, you got that?!"

Seifer stared at him for a moment before he slowly nodded his head, apparently the words actually sinking into that thick head of his. "Right…The only thing we can do now is protect Riku and the rest of the residents of Radiant Garden."

"Damn right. And we're going to make that old man proud! We'll make sure Riku turns out to be a good king just like his grandfather and his father before him." Both males nodded in agreement, the words actually reaching home far better than they would have thought.

"Guys!" The familiar voice drew Leon's attention as he stepped out of the room with the other two seeing Tidus running towards them with a group of follows. The first thing Leon noticed was that he saw two guards he sent off but no Cloud with them. The second thing he noticed was how of a panic the group of them appeared to be in. "Guys, Cloud's in trouble!"

"WHAT?!" Seifer and Leon yelled out at the same time. Leon felt his heart skip a beat, his thoughts instantly shifting over to that of the second commander. "Where is he?!"

"W-We were in front of the armory when he told us to go on without him!"

"That idiot!" Leon yelled out running off before they even knew what was happening.

"Huh..." Seifer blinked in surprised before glaring after him. "H-Hey! Wait up! I'm going with you!"

"I'll handle this alone!" Leon said stopping and looking at them, sounding more determined than he did just moments before. "Just get the people to the Highwind!"

"But-"

"Our king wouldn't want his people getting hurt!" Leon yelled out, proud he knew their king so well. "Save them! Get them on the ship and get the hell out of here!"

Seifer bit at his jaw again, clenching his hands tightly as he gave a very rigid nod. "Fine. But you better get out of this safe, you got that?!" He looked at Tidus giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he turned walking off towards the group of them, missing the surprised look the shorter male gave him.

Leon didn't stick around to see what was up though, his first priority now to get to Cloud as soon as possible. In his mind, the only thing running through it was his prayer that Cloud was still safe and alive.

* * *

_The Organization…._

Cloud blinked at that name, remembering it well. Could he mean Organization XIII? Would someone like this guy really be in a group like that? No he shouldn't underestimate him. That's just what he wanted. "What do you want here?" Are you the one who caused all of this?"

"I might be," the shorter male said smiling and resting his hands behind his head. "What would you do if I did?"

"Why you-"

"Whoa whoa! Chill out!" Holding up his hands, Demyx shook his head as if he was trying to clean up a misunderstanding, something that was confusing Cloud. This guy…he was a bad guy right? He didn't really look that bad but…. "I didn't mean anything by it. Let's be friends, ok?"

Frowning, Cloud continued to stare at the friendly guy, his composure relaxing slightly despite himself. Who was this wacko anyway?

_Is he…serious?_

"I'm unarmed!" The man said quickly pointing to his empty hand. "See? I was just joking earlier!" His eyes watered slightly though he seemed closer than he did earlier. "I'm sorry!"

"What are you doing here by yourself then?" Cloud asked, determined to get to the bottom of them.

"I got separated from the others," he said stopping again as he noticed Cloud gripping the sword tighter. "When I get scared I joke about stupid stuff like that. Come on, be a pal. Help me too?"

Something about this didn't feel right. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this guy just felt extremely wrong. "You said you were from the Organization earlier, didn't you? How do you know about that? The only people who should know about the organization are the king, and a few others that I know personally. You're not one of those people."

Demyx stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before he opened his mouth laughing. "Ahahahahaha!" He giggled sitting down where he was and crossing his legs staring at where Cloud was standing, the other looking at him like he was a lunatic. In Cloud's opinion, he probably was a lunatic, and a raving one at that. "You really do know your stuff. No wonder you were made commander at Kingdom Hearts." Standing to his feet and dusting himself off, Demyx held out his hand, a sitar appearing in his hand, something Cloud hadn't even seen before though he'd heard stories about it. "But you're really not part of the plan."

"Plan?" Frowning, Cloud stared at him letting his eyes taking the male in as well as the weapon. Unusual weapon or not, it was obvious this guy was an enemy. The only option left was to either take him out or take him captive. And if Cloud was right, this wasn't going to be an easy fight either way. "And what plan would that be?"

"I can't tell you that!" Demyx yelled frowning at him. "Come on, that's like giving my enemy my weakness."

"Maybe you're not as dumb as you look," Cloud said, knowing the words were true even without having to say it. No despite how the guy acts, he's very intelligent. He was going to have to be extra careful fighting him. And it seemed possible the man might even know his own fighting skills.

Grinning, Demyx didn't even hold his weapon like he was going to fight. "You're right about that!" He swung the sitar around in front of him sending a wave of water splashing out of the ground towards Cloud. Surprised by the suddenness of the water, Cloud just barely managed to jump out of the way. How in the world did water just show up where water wasn't supposed to be?

_Is he manipulating the water from the earth? But how?!_

"Hey come on! It's just a little water!" Grinning like a kid, Demyx threw more waves of water at him laughing slightly as Cloud dodged out of the way, the waves hitting into the wall beside him completely totaling it. "Have some fun!"

"No thanks!" Cloud yelled out dodging again before he started towards Demyx. Maybe if he got up closer he could take him out with a more direct approach.

"Oh fine," Demyx said seeing that Cloud didn't want to play with his water waves. "Then have fun with this instead!" Lifting his hand above his head, he snapped his fingers, water clones appearing out of the ground in front of Cloud.

_What the heck are those?!_

"Dance water dance!" Demyx yelled out, the sitar in both hands now as he started to play. Instantly his clones started moving to the music spinning around Cloud before giving off attacks with their own sitars. Cloud was holding himself off as he slashed at them taking them down one by one only to find the multiplying and getting faster. The first one to break through landed a hit right on his head causing him to yell out from the pain of being hit by something so solid. Water wasn't supposed to hurt!  
"What are they!" He yelled out glaring at the things.

"My clones!" Came the happy response. Scowling, Cloud kept attacking, finding himself more and more surrounding until they overwhelmed him, the water encasing him and trapping him inside as his air started to cut off. Great, he was going to drown! This was not the way he wanted to die, killed by some silly puddle of water.

"Say your prayers," Demyx said lifting his hand up to signal the final attack to his clones.

Cloud thought he saw flashes before his eyes before he suddenly felt the water release him, the clones dissipating suddenly. He fell to his knees gagging and coughing up water struggling to catch his breath, his wet hair dangling in front of his eyes. He looked up, wondering what had happened though his eyes stopped as he saw a figure standing over the fallen Organization member. Instantly his eyes widened in surprised, only being interrupted by a spell of coughing.

"A-Auron," he managed to say through a fit of coughing before he cleared his throat looking up at the man again who stood calming, Demyx's limp body draped over one shoulder. "You're…alive?"

Nodding his head slightly, Auron walked over, his boots sounding on the stone floor as he stopped in front of Cloud holding out a hand to him. "Long time no see, Cloud."

Cloud nodded too tired and sore to reach out and grab the hand as he laid his head down on the cool floor. "Glad…to see you made it out…too." He thought he might have heard more footsteps running in his direction but his felt his eyes growing heavy as he shivered feeling cold in the wet clothes. He thought he heard someone calling out his name and felt himself being lifted up into a pair of strong arms, his eyes opening briefly to see the worried face of the Radiant Garden's commander. The image passed by feeling more like a dream as he felt himself drifting off, briefly thinking that he might have gotten a concussion.

Tbc…

Hehe and now enter Auron. Who's also a very …important person to the story for reasons to be revealed eventually. Yay Auron!


	18. Princely Garbs 18

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Sleepy! So yeah, things will probably be mispelled if I missed it, which always happens naturally. Next chapter coming soon. And boy will it have an intense moment.

Princely Garbs 18

"Damn wizard," Cid said mumbling around the tip of the smoking cig between his lips. "When I actually do need him for something, he's not around."

"What exactly is he supposed to do anyway?" Tidus asked bored, looking just as tired as Seifer did of just sitting around.

"He's gonna power this sucker up with his magic," Cid said patting the hideous thing creation he made. "That thunder shock thing of his or something."

"And if he's not here then we can't do anything right?" Seifer asked looking over at him now.

"Damn right," Cid said blowing out a puff of smoke. "Why? You planning on going after Leon?"

"Yeah, despite what he says, there's no telling what he's getting himself into. I'd rather not take any chances."

"Well go do whatcha gotta do," Cid said taking the cig and dropping it on the ground smothering it with a foot. "Don't worry, we'll be safe here from those things."

"Hm? And how's that?"

The grin on Cid's face couldn't have been a good thing. "Aerith, you still got that little thing?"

"Yeah," Aerith said smiling as she walks over holding a little robot in her arms.

"…What is that?"

"A bug zapper!"

"…A what?"

"It kills bugs," Cid said simply, before rubbing a finger under his chin looking like he was thinking about something. "Or well…it used to anyway. Now it kills those things." Cid grinned at him looking way too damn proud of himself. "Ya see, it sends out a strong light charge that blows their socks off. If they even wear socks anyway."

"We call it BZ for short," Aerith said gently patting the little thing on the head. "Riku named it." The little robot was busy looking around, squeaking slightly as if agreeing with the name with a happy chirp. BZ…how retarded a name was that? Well, he'd rather not question it. Let Riku have his fun.

"Anyway, I better get going. If Leon's out there too much longer, I might end up thinking something got him too."

"Then I'll go with you!" Tidus yelled out, growing excited just at the thought of it.

"Idiot, there's no way I'm taking a brat like you!" Seifer yelled glaring at him. Tidus just glared in return standing up in front of him defiant.

"Oh yeah? And whatcha gonna do? Tie me down?"

"If I have to then yeah!"

"You two settle down, yer givin' me a headache." Cid grumbled glaring at them both. "Go ahead and take the kid with you. He needs the training anyway."

"I don't need excess baggage on my back, old man," Seifer said turning and walking off heading out of the ship. "Just keep all the kids out of trouble, ok? I'll be back in a minute." He ran off, not wanting to give Tidus or the old man time to comment. Afterall, he was really a loner by nature. Maybe that's why he felt respect for Leon despite their differences. He could easily have been a commander himself but Leon was considered a favorite with the king. There was that and the fact that Seifer still had somewhat of a behavioral problem.

_But right now, there's no time to play around._

That's right, the enemy had invaded his home and the home of his friends. It was time to take them all down and take back what was theirs.

* * *

Leon frowned looking down at the unconscious Cloud's sweet face before he found his eyes looking up at the suspicious man named Auron. He knew Cloud was strong, but he was worried about this guy now. For the man to be able to just come in and knock out a foe that was giving even Cloud a hard time, it made him wonder. Cloud seemed to know him, but whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen. "Who are you?" He asked glaring at the male.

"Nobody," Auron said in return as he kneeled down picking up Cloud's sword. He made it seem light, picking it up with ease even with the small form draped over his shoulder. "Just in old friend," the man said staring down at the sword, the same sword that Leon knew was quite heavy.

"I see…." Glaring, Leon held Cloud closer to him, for some reason feeling like there was a possibility of the man trying to take Cloud away. But why something like this was bothering him, he didn't know. If he had his choice, he'd rather not think about it.

_A lot of good that'll do me._

"And what reason do you have for me to trust you?"

"None. In fact, if you're smart…" Auron said turning the sword so the hilt was pointing towards Leon, "you won't." Leon just frowned, curiously taking the sword from Auron and bracing himself against the heavy weight. It always amazed him that someone as small as Cloud could carry something so huge and heavy. Just what kind of training did they give at Kingdom Hearts? Cloud shifted slightly in his arms, a small sigh escaping his slightly parted lips as he nuzzled his head against he commander's chest. For some reason, the small action sent Leon's heart racing causing him to swallow and looks at Auron, using him as some form of distraction.  
It didn't help any at all that Auron looked amused, even with only one eye. "Take good care of him," Auron said turning looking like he was about to walk off. Wait, what did he mean by that?!

"H-Hey! Wait!" Leon glared at his back. "Where do you think you're going?!"

_This guy…he could be one of them! I can't let him get away!_

"I have something to deliver to my king," Auron said looking back at him and shifting Demyx higher on his shoulder. "To Sephiroth." He started walking again, Leon feeling like he had no choice but to follow.

"…Sephiroth?" That didn't make Leon feel any better. What connection did this Auron guy have to Sephiroth? And why was he just hearing of him now? Wait, was it possible that Cloud met him there when he had to go to Hallow Bastion for business? Maybe that's how he knows him. But something deep down told Leon there was more to it than just that. Leon noticed how Auron was holding Demyx carefully despite him being an enemy and frowned. "What does he want with him?"

"I'm not sure myself," Auron said. "But I can make a bet he plans to interrogate him." Leon was still trying to get over the fact that this guy caught an Organization Member with such ease. At least, he must have been one the way he was attacking. Even the ones Leon had run into had been pretty strong. And this guy here had to be as well for him to be able to take on Cloud and even knock him out. So how was it that Auron could just pop up, smack him in the head one good time, and catch himself an Organization Member?

_Maybe they're not as strong as I thought._

"If you're wondering how Cloud and I know each other," Auron said being completely off topic to what Leon was thinking. "We both used to work for Kingdom Hearts. I was the first in command before Cloud."

…_Wait…what?_

Leon stopped in his tracks. "So…you survived the attack too?"

"Something like that," Auron said continue to walk down the hallway. Frowning, Leon continued following him, planning to get as much details out of him as he could.

"What do you mean by-"

"You're going to need some place to hide out at for a while," Auron said not bothering to glance back at him as he interrupted what he was going to say. "Sephiroth's suggested that you take refuge at Hallow Bastion for a little while." It wasn't an idea that Leon looked forward to. In truth, the needed some place to go. Radiant Garden was in shambles right now. And until they could retain order and find Riku, it was going to have to stay like that. Since Kingdom Hearts wasn't a hop, skip away, they were going to have to rely on King Sephiroth to help them. And that idea appeased to him as much as getting his teeth pulled.

Sephiroth had a habit of liking to harass Cloud for one reason or another. It had actually come to a point that when Sephiroth did show up at the palace, Cloud was quick to hide out in Leon's room during that time. And of course, Leon couldn't bring himself to say no to him. Neither one of them communicated that well with each other, or maybe it was more like they were ok with the companionable silence. Maybe Leon should have taken it upon himself to ask Cloud more about his life.

But back to the situation at hand, the people of Radiant Garden needed some place to go, and the only place they would be able to help was Hallow Bastion. "I think…we might have to take that offer."

"Then if you don't mind," Auron said stopping and looking at him. "I'd like to accompany you there."

"Uh…." Leon blinked at that. Somehow he'd had the thought that Auron had his own ride. But by the sounds of it, he didn't. Great…if that airship of Cid's already left, how in the world were they going to-

"Hey!" The familiar voice caused Leon to look up from his thoughts seeing Seifer walking towards him. "Everything ok over there?"

_Good, someone familiar._

"We're good," Leon said walking over to Seifer and holding out the buster sword to him. "Can you carrying this? Cloud's been hurt and it's getting too heavy to carrying them both."

"Yeah sure," Seifer said taking the sword and almost dropping it. "Holy- you sure he carries this thing?!"

"Positive," Leon said nodding his head. "He's stronger than he looks."

"So uh," Seifer said looking back past Leon. "Who was that guy you were talking to?"

…Was? Leon turned around frowning when he saw an empty space behind him.

_Where did he go?_

Whatever, it didn't matter. If the guy wasn't with them then so much the better. "Don't worry about it," Leon said turning and walking past Seifer. "Let's head back now."

"Yeah, let's hope Merlin's back alread-"

"Hey!" Seifer frowned looking up and finding Tidus there standing and waving at them.

"You squirt! I told you to stay on the ship!"

"I did," Tidus said defiantly as he rested his hands behind his head. "Now I'm here." Grinning, he rubbed a finger under his nose. "Besides, you can't do anything by yourself."

"Did something happen?" Leon asked, a bit worried and feeling a little guilty for leaving everyone behind like that. He was a soldier, he was supposed to protect the people. But if Cloud had died, he wouldn't have been able to forgive himself.

"Nah, everything's good. Is that Cloud?" Tidus leaned close getting a good look at the face there. "I'm used to seeing his spikes. Is he ok?" Leon hadn't even thought about that. The usually spiky head that was Cloud's was now damp from the water thrown. He made him look softer, more gently. It didn't help at all that when he was sleeping he looked like an angel.

"That I know of," Leon answered distractedly. "I want to get him inside and dried up as soon as possible."

With silent agreement, the three of them started walking heading back to the ship. And the whole way there, Leon found himself staring down at Cloud on more than one occasion. Why…why was he feeling so attracted to him lately?

"Hey, who's that?" Tidus asked drawing Leon's eyes away from the beautiful face to see Auron standing up ahead of them, still holding the Organization member. How he'd found time to get some rope and tie him up was beyond him though. With how fast he'd have done it, he must have known exactly where to get rope from, something that was bothering Leon. How exactly did this guy know where the storage room was even at if he'd never been here before? Not only that, he knew exactly which bin to look in for the rope.

_No…maybe I'm over complicating it cause I don't trust him._

But from the soft way Cloud had said his name, he must have been a very important guy to him. Something about that didn't sit right with Leon. He'd never known Cloud to think highly of a person in that way, so what made this guy so special?

"Hey, it's the guy from earlier." Seifer frowned, not trusting the man either but probably from completely different reasons from Leon. "What's he doing here?"

"He's going with us," Leon said starting to walk again, the other two staring at him. "He works for Sephiroth."

"I should have figured as much," Seifer said grunting as he followed. "So that means we're going to that Hallow Bastion place then?"  
"We can't stay here," Leon said wishing it didn't have to be this way. He wasn't fond of Sephiroth or Hallow Bastion. And he definitely didn't want Cloud being near either one of them. "We'll need food and shelter and safety for the survivors, and ourselves too."

"Fine," Seifer said glaring at the man up ahead as they got closer. "But I don't have to like it."

"AH, it's that guy!" Tidus suddenly yelled out pointing at Demyx. Both males blinked and looked at Tidus in confusion then looked back seeing the little one Auron was holding.

"Hey, you're right!" Seifer yelled out. "That's the freak that was singing that stupid song!"

"He was fighting against Cloud," Leon said staring down at the slumbering figure in his arms, noticing that he was starting to tremble from wearing the wet clothes still. "Apparently that man there holding him was the one to save Cloud."

"Whoa, that guy must be strong then to be able to save even Cloud!" Leon nodded his head frowning a bit as he remembered Auron's words. The two of them worked for Kingdom Hearts. But Auron started out as first in command. So what happened back then that resulted in Cloud taking over? Maybe that was a question he could ask the blond male himself.

"Let's get going," Leon said looking at the two with him then at Auron before getting on the ship. Auron nodded following him into the ship.

"W-wait, he's taking that guy with us?" Seifer complained as he pointed at the knocked out Demyx.

"For interrogation," Leon said continuing to move, determined to get Cloud out of the wet clothes and into something dry. "We need to find out what they want and what they're planning."

"World Domination," Tidus said then blinked when he got a look. "What? That's what all the big bad bosses want!"

"My…head hurts." Leon almost stopped walking, hearing the soft voice coming from the figure he was carrying.

"Cloud!" Leon yelled out before he reddened at sounding so desperate. He cleared his throat, ignoring the looks the others gave him as he stared down at Cloud. "Are you ok?"

"Le…on?" Slowly, the beautiful blue orbs with their strange sparkle opened looking up at Leon, a shot of pain shooting through them as he quickly shut them again. "Ow…."

"Just relax," Leon said doing his best to sound soothing. It wasn't easy though, his voice sounding too rough to him. He wasn't the type to be kind and gentle. He was all about fighting…this was…kind of new to him. "We're going to get you some dry close in just a second." He missed the look the two others in the ship gave him as he looked up at Cid, suspicious of the grin on his face. "Hm. Cid, any word from Merlin yet?"

"Yep," Cid said smoking his cig and still grinning like a fool around it. "He popped up for a moment and gave me something then kept going." The grinned dropped off his face as he turned around in the pilot seat. "Said something about Riku missing."

_No!_

"That can't be!" Tidus yelled out. "Not Riku!"

Leon felt the second in command struggling to get down from his arms and frowned holding him tighter to keep him still. "We need to find him!"

"Stay still!" Leon commanded pulling Cloud to his chest, the other freezing where was, breath softly blowing on Leon's neck from his struggling. "You're not going anywhere in your state."

"Whoever took him, Merlin said not to worry." He turned around, the grin on his face again as he blew out a puff of smoke. "He said Sora's going to save him along with some guy called Mickey and his friends. Merlin said he's gonna help too. Besides," He grumbles taking the cig from his mouth and smothering it against the dashboard. "There's three things keeping you guys here."

"And that is?"

"One," Cid said holding up a finger, "We've got a lot of people to take care of, I don't want them being stuck completely defenseless like last time. Two," He held up a second finger, "You ain't got no way to get to where Riku even is. Apparently, it's not even part of our world or something."

"Not part of our world?"

"Shut up and let me finish," Cid grounded out before holding up a third finger. "And three, are not about to leave us here along with that guy!" He pointed his finger at Auron. "Or his little buddy there." Auron didn't seem to care, ignoring them as he started leaning against the wall, casually holding Demyx in his arms. "Now, go lay Cloud down in the back and get him dried up before he catches phenomena. Cause I'm not taking care of his sick ass!"

"Yeah," Leon said frowning and turning looking at Aerith. "Could you come have a look at him? He says his head hurts."

"Oh!" Aerith smiled softly giving a nod of her head. "Of course."

"He got hit pretty hard in the head," Leon was saying as he walked further down the hall and stopped by one of two rooms. "I think it's bothering him." Aerith nodded following him inside as he gently laid Cloud down on the bed not wanting to give him more pain than he already had. The beautiful blond had his eyes clenched shut against the pain, his hands tightening in the sheets.

"Hm…looks like it caused some bruising," Aerith said kneeling and checking him over. "Hold on, I'll heal it right up." She closed her eyes resting her hands on Cloud's head, blue magic glowing in her fingers. Instantly, the pained look on Cloud's face started to vanish as he started to loosen up letting go of the sheets. "There," Aerith said smiling softly. Good as new."

"Thank you," Leon said looking more than relieved. Aerith blinked at him, not used to hearing those words come out of his mouth.

"Oh, you're welcome," she said smiling brightly as she walked past patting his shoulder. "There should be some dry towels in the closet."

"Thanks. Could you tell Cid to head for Hallow Bastion?"

"Yes, of course," she said smiling and nodding her head. "I'll leave you to take care of him. If you need anything else, just call." She left out of the room leaving Leon staring after here before he turned around and frowned finding Cloud sitting up and holding a hand to his head.

When he saw Cloud starting to get out of the bed he quickly walked over pushing the slightly smaller man back down on the bed and glaring at him. "You're not going anywhere."

Frowning, Cloud tried to push the hand away, but he was still pretty weak and too cold to do much good. "The p-princes are in d-d-danger."

"And you won't be able to do anything about it as you are," Leon said, the glare softening. "Now lay down, rest, and work on regaining your strength." Cloud frowned, a slight red tint to his cheeks as he looked away, his body still shivering. Apparently, Leon had missed the slight blush, but he hadn't missed the shivering as he walked over to the closet getting out a couple of the dry towels and looking to see if he found any clothes. "I'm going to go see if I can find you some dry clothes," Leon said tossing the towels on the bed, noticing that Cloud was pointedly looking away from him.

Frowning, Leon just rested his fingers to his temple as he left the room, feeling the ship moving and knowing they were flying now. He checked the other room and, not finding anything, sighed as he returned to where Cloud was. He didn't know why, but he was actually a bit surprised to see that Cloud had actually stayed put like he told him, still looking away towards the wall on the other side of him, away from Leon. "I couldn't find anything," Leon said lamely, rubbing a hand behind his head bothered and a little frustrated that Cloud was being so stubborn.

"I'm a s-soldier," Cloud said not bothering to look at him. "I'll be f-f-f-ine." But even saying that, Cloud's shivering was starting to get more sporadic and harder.

"No, you wont' be." Leon said glaring at Cloud's form on the bed. "You'll get sick like that. Then what good would you be to your princes?"

"While I'm s-s-sitting here 'getting b-b-b-better,' they could be out there a-a-about to d-die."

"Sora's strong and so is Riku. And from what you said Mickey is too. And don't forget, Merlin's not a push over." Frowning, walked over to the bed staring down at Cloud noticing that his hair was starting to shape up into those spikes of his. But either way, he needed to do something. Even if he had to forcefully remove Cloud's clothes, he would. Sighing and finding himself blushing just a bit, removed his own shirt, feeling a chill but knowing it was no worse than the chill Cloud was feeling fight now. "Here. Put this on."

"?" Cloud turned in confusion seeing the shirt before he blushed looking up at Leon, unable to help his eyes trailing over the smooth chest in front of him. "W-What?"

"You can at least wear something dry," Leon said, forcing himself not to look away despite how embarrassing this was. "Just slip this on and giving me your clothes. I'll take them to the engine room and let them dry. It shouldn't take long to dry there. I'll tell everyone not to come in while it's drying."

"I-I…." Cloud shyly took the shirt away, the trembling easily passing for being cold as he looked down. Something about this other personality gave Leon his own shivers as he stared down at Cloud. When did he get so adorable? Cloud seemed to notice he was being stared at cause he looked up surprising Leon with his red cheeks. "Can you…t-t-t-turn around for a m-moment?"

Leon lifted a brow, a bit confused but did as he was asked as he turned around. He wasn't one for putting his back to anyone, comrade or not, but he just felt like he could really trust Cloud right now. And that was saying something considering before this all began, he couldn't bring himself to trust the man. So when did that trust suddenly form?

Blinking in confusion, Leon noticed the movement behind him, tempted to turn around to see what was going on before he heard a wet thump by his foot and looked down seeing the wet shirt Cloud had been wearing. He found himself blushing as he heard the zipper on Cloud's pants being undone and knew if he turned around now he'd find a very surprised and possibly half-naked Cloud there. Why that thought turned him on, he wasn't sure. He could hear the cloth being removed before the pants too were tossed onto the floor by the shirt.

Leon knew his face was super red now. After all the times he'd changed with Cloud, he'd have thought himself unaffected by the thought of another man getting undressed. But now that he thought back to it, Cloud never did undress around him, and he was always gone before Leon even finished himself. He especially remembered the one instance where Cloud ended up finding out the hard way that Leon was not one to wear boxers or briefs or anything come to think of it.

"A-Alright." He wasn't sure if he was ready but Leon turned around anyway finding Cloud lying underneath the covers wearing the shirt he'd been given. He looked…adorable. His face was still red, probably from the embarrassing action he just did. Something about that show of emotions just seemed to draw Leon to him even more. But Leon quickly shook his head having to get his thoughts away from that. "I'll…go ahead and take these to dry."

Cloud just blushed, lying back on the bed and trying to ignore what just happened as he looked at the wall again. "T-thanks." Frowning, Leon hoped the cold would pass by quickly. He grabbed the clothes, glancing down at Cloud before he turned leaving out of the room to take the clothes to dry.

He found himself being stared at by the others in the ship and blushed doing his best to look mean despite the red on his cheeks as he kept walking, ignoring them and acting like he wasn't being effected by anything. But the knowing look Cid passed his way sure didn't help him any.

_Bastard._

* * *

Sora blinked finding the group of them in some dark city somewhere and blinks at the white palace up ahead of them looking far too inviting compared to the rest of the darkness. "What is this place?"

"Castle Oblivion," Roxas said stopping beside him and staring at the castle. "This is where the Organization lives."

"Gwarsh, hyuk." Goofy stopped on the other side of Sora staring up with big eyes at the thing. 'It's huge!"

Sora nodded his head staring up with them as he clenched his hands into fists. "And that's where we can find Riku! Let's go!" He started moving, walking towards the castle, determined to get to Riku as soon as possible. There was no telling what was going on in there.

Sighing, Roxas reached up grabbing Sora's ear and pulling him back ignoring the yelp of pain the other gave. "Dummy, didn't I tell you we need a plan? Don't just waltz in there like you own the place!"

"I wonder who's all in there," Axel mumbled stopping beside Roxas and staring down at him.

"If we actually had Zexion on our side, we'd know."

"He's one of the last people that I'd think would lose the darkness," Axel said scratching his head. "You're better off trying to get Vexen to join over him."

"What is all this darkness mumbo jumbo anyway?" Sora asked frowning at the two of them.

"Geez…how to explain it."

"There are three ways one can be infected by darkness," Roxas said holding up a finger. "Vexen can inject it straight into the body. In most cases, the person will lose all sense of themselves and will attack just about anything." He held up another finger. "Being hit directly by an Organization's weapon can be an issue too since the darkness also resides inside." Sora started to open his mouth, worried that the same must have happened to Riku.

"Don't worry, Roxas's keyblades don't have darkness. They're just like yours."

"Like mine?" Sora asked blinking and pointing to himself.

Roxas just nodded his head. "Those two ways will just turn you into something inhuman. There's really no sound cause you just become like a shadow. You become darkness."

Sora blinked remembering the time he'd been locked inside Leon's room. He'd seen weird creatures crawling around outside and had wondered then what those were. "Wait…Those were humans?!"

"The final way," Roxas continued, obviously not wanting to go into the details, "or the way for me and Axel, was being injected with darkness straight into the heart."

"It hurts," Axel said frowning and rubbing at his chest remembering the pain. "Like having your heart ripped out and you'll still alive to feel it."

"Once it's done," Roxas continued glancing at Axel, "You feel nothing, no emotions, no love. Your heart just dies but you still maintain your personality and most of your thoughts. You just forget how to feel."

"That sounds horrible," Sora said, his hair drooping slightly as he saddened.

"Oh it is, believe me," Axel said shaking his head. "In the long run, we become nobodies, or…people with no reason to exist."

Curious, Sora reached out resting a hand on Roxas's chest. The other tensed up slightly but Sora just shook his head. Roxas blinked in confusion staring at his twin, probably wondering what the other was doing. But Sora wasn't paying attention, certain he was feeling something there, something strong and powerful. "But…I feel a heart beat. Are you sure it's gone?"

"…." Roxas couldn't help staring. "What?"

"Yeah…it's beating strong. I guess you're not so heartless anymore."

"…Really…." Roxas smiled slightly. "Sounds good to me. What about you?" He asked Axel as he reached up resting a hand on his chest.

"Me? Oh uh…." Axel blushed slightly staring down at the little hand on his chest.

Roxas couldn't help the small smile on his lips. "It's there, beating really fast too." Sora blinked, staring up at Axel suspiciously causing the tall male to redden even more. "Come on, let's go!"

"Wait!" Roxas reached up on his toes as he grabbed Axel's ear glaring and dragging him back. "I just told you we need a plan, dummy!"

"Ow ow! Stop, that hurts!"

Sora started to laugh but noticed Mickey coming their way and blinks, the other two stopping what they were doing. "I think we need a distraction," Mickey said looking towards the building. "I think I can lure them out of the castle so that you're able to sneak inside. Merlin, do you think you can put a invisible spell on everyone?"

"Why of course," Merlin said smiling. "But there's no guarantees that it'll last long."  
"That's fine, we just need it long enough to get inside the building." Mickey huddled in drawing the others to him with his voice. "Once everyone's inside, stick together." Shakes his head, "no, that might be too much trouble."

"Both me and Axel know our way around," Roxas said glancing at the castle. "Being in a big group draws attention, we should split up and meet somewhere."

"Don't forget," Axel said frowning. "If…we really don't have any darkness in us then we won't be able to control it for much longer."

"That's true," Roxas said frowning also. "We need to find Riku and get out in at least ten minutes. If the darkness runs out of us, we'll be trapped here. We won't be able to get out of here."

"Gwarsh, that doesn't sound good at all."

"Then we need to get moving," Sora said staring determinedly at the white castle.

_Riku, hang on. We're almost there._

TBC...

And that's all for this chapter!


	19. Princely Garbs 19

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: And this one might have mispellings cause I was too lazy to check for grammar, though I did check spelling errors, honest!

Princely Garbs 19

He was floating in that darkness again, just like the last time. Something told Riku he was asleep, but he couldn't make himself wake up, his eyes staring up looking for that light that had came to him last time. It seemed like time had passed for a long time with him just floating there, something he felt a little too calm about. But just like last time, he heard a voice calling out to him. He couldn't place the voice but he had hopes that it was Sora's soft voice calling him.

"Good of you to finally wake up, young prince."

Riku's eyes popped open at the clear voice, the look of shock quickly turning to a look of anger as he glared at Vexen. He started to get up, but found himself stopped by the straps that were placed securely around his arms and legs.

"Yes, we took precautions to make sure you didn't escape. Glare all you want, I am not letting you go." Riku struggled against the confines only finding out that they were completely secured in places. There was no way he could slip himself free, not that this tall blond would even allow that to happen. "Now then," Vexen said as he moved over sitting on a stool beside Riku in his lab. "After that little stunt earlier, I think you might even have the same powers as the keyblader."

As he was talking, he took his time attaching small devices to Riku that looked like they would feed whatever he gave out to the machine they were hooked too. Riku flinched each time one was put on him, though his glare didn't leave him even as Vexen placed the last one on him finishing up his dirty work. "Now, try forming your hand into a fist."

Riku didn't reply his eyes glaring up at the man before he turned his head away, deciding he'd rather just pretend he wasn't there. What more could he really do to hurt him anyway? He'd already turned his aunt into a monster…how much worse could it be? But something deep inside him told him it could get worse…much much worse. "If you keep not cooperating, I won't be able to guarantee that the same thing that happened to your aunt won't happen to your little cousin and your friend."

_Friend?_

Riku looked at him sharply just in time to see him push a button. On the big computer behind him, two screens popped up, two figures being clearly seen in them. One figure was his little cousin Kairi, the very girl he'd been trying to calm down since he'd been brought to this place…and the other figure….

"Sora! Kairi!" His eyes went wide as he tried to fight out of the chair, panting and giving up when it became obvious it was futile to try to escape. They had him secured; they weren't about to let him go that easily. What did they want with him!

"Do as you were told," Vexen said calmly, his eyes staring at the screen beside him, as some long lines went across it. Clenching his jaw tight to keep himself from saying something, Riku glared at Vexen as he tightened up his fist, the little lines on the screen starting to fluctuate. "Good, the readings are working perfectly," Vexen said content with where things were going. "Now do the other hand." Riku closed his eyes for a second then finally did the other hand, the same reactions happening on the screen. "Excellent. Things seem to be proceeding perfectly. Now then," Vexen said turning his head away from Riku as he reached over to a button," to begin the procedure."

_Procedure?_

As Vexen pushed the button, the room that Kairi was in grew hazy as smoke started to fill it, the young girl coughing as she tried not to breath it. "Liar!" Riku yelled out eyes wide as he stared at the screen and struggled against the bonds. "Let her go! You said you wouldn't hurt her! Stop!"

"Show me the true power of the keyblade and I will."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Riku…" Kairi coughed choking on the dark mist as she fell over unable to make herself move any further.

"Kairi!" He was becoming desperate as he struggled, feeling the tears forming in his eyes as he watched his cousin becoming something else, something not human. "Kairi!"

"Show me the power!"

"I don't have a keyblade!"

"You do!" Vexen stood up as he pointed up at the big screen, at the transforming girl. "And if you want to stop your cousin from being consumed by darkness, you'll use the power!"

"Kairi! Kairi, no!"

"Use the power!"

Riku freaked out seeing the body that used to be Kairi becoming less and less human as he panted tiredly, his hands clenching tight. "KAIRI!" His body started to glow, the keyblade trying to form in his open palm as he stared at the screen willing himself to get loose, needing to save her.

"That's right. Let the power flow, feed it your anger."

"How are things going?" Xenmas said as he came into the room.

"Superior." Vexen bowed his head slightly before he turned towards Riku. "Everything is going perfectly."

"Yes, I see." Xemnas stopped beside Vexen, taking in the image of the screen before he looked at Riku and the keyblade he was holding carelessly in his hand.

"Should I begin injecting him with the darkness?" Vexen asked, already picking up a needle. Riku didn't even look at them; too busy staring at the changed Kairi to care…his family…was he losing them one by one? Wait…Sora...there was still Sora…if he could save him then….

"Indeed."

"As you wish," Vexen said staring down at Riku's red eyes before he pushed the next button, the smoke starting to fill up Sora's chamber.

"SORA! NO!" His hand tightened on the keyblade as his struggles began anew. He was so busy staring at Sora, willing all of this to stop that he didn't even notice when the needle penetrated his skin and the darkness started to flow inside of him. "Sora!" Vexen sat back, watching his handiwork being created as he stared at Riku, seeing the darkness filling his eyes taking over and covering the bright sea green color. It didn't take long for the darkness to crawl down the pale arms starting to invade and take over the prince's body.

"Perfect," Xemnas said from beside him.

"We will have complete control over him…" He turned his eyes to the screen watching as Sora collapsed choking on the smoke starting to change forms. "His heart is completely open…the darkness will have no problem getting in. His spirit is broken, he won't resist us now." Riku stared at the screen, tears falling freely from his eyes before he closed them, feeling his thoughts starting to escape him.

"Good…then we can…." He wasn't even hearing them anymore, his eyes opening as he stared at the figure transforming in front of him before the last of his thoughts vanished from his mind.

* * *

"…Cloud."

"Hm?" Cloud looked over at Leon, curiosity shining in his eyes apparently wondering what the other male wanted with him.

"Who is Auron?" Leon asked frowning as he glanced away, something inside of him stirring up just at the thought of the one eyed male. He honestly didn't like the male. After all, this guy did just pop up out of no where in the middle of chaos and proclaim he was from Kingdom Hearts. If that was the case, then why hadn't Cloud ever mentioned him before? Or maybe he had thought he was dead.

That part became obviously true as a look of sadness passed through Cloud's eyes for a moment before being covered up by his emotionless expression. "Auron, he's…" He shifted slightly in the bed, an action that through Leon's attention despite himself. He felt his cheeks redden slightly trying not to stare as the sheets slid off a milky white let slightly. It definitely didn't help him any knowing that Cloud was half-naked underneath those sheets. Cloud obviously didn't even notice, too busy trying to explain that Auron guy to know he was teasing Leon in such a way.

_Wait…teasing…me? Why would I feel teased by that!_

"He was in first command at Kingdom Hearts before I was," Cloud said continuing to explain how he knew Auron. Thankfully, Leon was able to focus more on his words than his body or else…. "But he disappeared several months before Kingdom Hearts was invaded by the darkness. During that time, I was the second command. But because Auron went missing, I was made first command." He frowned staring down at the bed. "But I'm not where near as strong as he was…is."

"I think you're very strong," Leon said, the words slipping free from his lips before he could stop them.

Cloud stared at him, eyes wide before he smiled slightly glancing away. "Thanks.…" Leon nodded his head, though he found his eyes trailing down Cloud's body past the covered chest from the shirt Leon had gave him from off his own back and only down to the creamy leg that was still sticking out from the sheets.

It wasn't just the leg that drew his attention; the softness of Cloud's lips seemed to stand out to him. He missed the look of confusion Cloud gave him or how the blonde's eyes followed the same path his eyes did to the same little leg hanging out from other the sheets. Blushing, he quickly moved the sheets covering the leg and apparently bringing Leon out of his trance.

Leon looked at him; actually looking a little bit embarrassed as he rubbed behind his head. Had he really just been staring at Cloud and thinking he looked good? Shaking his head, he decided to tell Cloud what he thought about Auron. Something wasn't right for the other man to disappear for so long and suddenly show up again like it never happened. He must have caused something. "I don't trust Auron."

"…." Cloud frowned, turning his eyes towards Leon. "Why not?"

"I find it odd," Leon said ignoring the dark look appearing in Cloud's eyes, "that this guy…who was probably the strongest person in Kingdom Hearts would suddenly just up and disappear." He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in somewhere by the door, his arms folding over his chest as he looked at the floor in deep thought about this. "It's even possible he betrayed-"

"He wouldn't do that!" Cloud yelled out. This was the first time Leon had even heard Cloud yell in anger before. To say the least, it shocked him.

"How would you know?" Leon said, narrowing his own eyes, his mind being bothered more by the fact that Cloud was defending this mysterious man and looking at him like he was the bad guy.

"I've known him since we were kids. He's the one that taught me to fight and defend myself." Cloud had his hands clenched up in the sheets, though the look in his eyes didn't change a bit. "And he's always looked out for me."

"Yeah, but then he deserted you when you needed him the most." Leon folded his arms turning his face away. "I don't think he went missing. I think he was the one that led the attack on Kingdom Hearts."

"Don't badmouth him!"

Leon blinked staring at him, surprised for the second time that Cloud had actually yelled out at him. He'd been so loud this time, that there was no doubt that the others in the small ship had heard him. Hmm…was this Auron guy really that important to Cloud that he couldn't see the real issue going on?

_Would he give up on Sora and Riku just to follow this man?_

"…Fine." Leon said starting to get up, not even giving Cloud a second glance as he started for the door.

"Leon!" Cloud called out, the sound of movement behind him giving Leon enough thought to know that Cloud had gotten out of the bed after him. He didn't bother to turn to look at him though, even if had it been a few moments back he probably would have found himself staring at the naked Cloud. Right now though, his mind was too clouded by anger and by the fact that this Auron guy who hadn't been seen in over ten years was still trusted more than the very man who'd worked beside Cloud for all those times.

"I'll send the murderer in with your clothes once they dry," Leon said, those being the only words he said.

He felt the heated glare on his back and heard the movement behind him before he felt the soft material hit him in the back of the head and frowned, looking down at his feet to find his shirt on the floor.

"Get out." The words were grounded from his lips with such force; Leon didn't need to be told twice as he grabbed up the shirt and left room slamming the door shut behind him. With all that had went on, he missed the way Cloud was glaring at the floor or the hurt look on his face, something that normally would not have been seen.

* * *

King Mickey busily drew the guards out placing the distraction as he drew the enemy guards away from the front gate.

"This is it," Roxas whispered gathering everyone's attention. "Let's go." Sora nodded and followed along with the others, sticking close to his twin brother as he went. But he couldn't help glancing back, his eyes sparkling in wonder as he watched Mickey move.

"So cool."

"Looks like we made it in with no problem," Axel whispered glancing around at the empty hallway. "Guess everyone went outside after the king."

"Now we just need to find the prince and get out of here," Roxas said something about the place giving him a bad feeling. It felt off…something was really off. Sadly, he couldn't place his finger on it yet. It was definitely too quiet, that's for sure.

"Let's split up, everyone," Mickey said, resting the keyblade over his shoulder as he stopped beside Sora.

"Wah!" Sora jumped slightly surprised to see Mickey there with them so soon. "How…t-that was fast."

Roxas had to admit, he agreed with his brother on that. Close to twenty guards had ran out…how had this one guy defeated so many so quickly?

"Really?" Mickey said blinking his eyes in confusion. "I hadn't noticed!"

"Less talking more moving," Roxas said walking down the hallway, knowing the others would follow. "Since we have cells on two sides of the castle, I'll lead the way for this side." He stopped in the center of the hallway as it branched out in two different directions. "Axel, take the other side. Let's meet back here fifteen minutes." He frowned glancing down the hallway in the direction he was planning to take. "I'm having a bad feeling…so be careful."

"I'll go with you then," Sora said smiling at Roxas. It was obvious he wanted to learn more about the possibly older boy, but then again…Roxas wanted to learn more about him too. He didn't want to go based off the lies the Organization had fed him, no he wanted to learn it on his own.

"Alright."

"And of course I'll go to protect you," Merlin said drawing Sora's attention to him. He sure had a habit of popping up unexpected. He would have made a good member for the Organization.

"We'll check out the other side with Axel," Mickey said, smiling and ruffling Sora's head with the young prince gave him a pout." It shouldn't take long." He frowned slightly looking in the other direction. "Though I wish I had thought to bring Pluto along. He would have been a big help here."

Sora blinked at that. "Pluto?"

"Nothing," Mickey said smiling as he started to walk off. "Let's go."

"Oh…right." Sora smiled as he looked at Roxas, his eyes shining with determination. "To find Riku!"

Roxas couldn't help the small smile lifting to his face as he gave a nod of his own. "Let's hurry."

* * *

Leon found himself sitting beside Cid, his eyes were closed as if he were asleep and his arms crossed though it was obvious he was still awake if a bit peeved, his eyebrows twitching every so often. How could Cloud trust a guy like Auron? Even worse, now Leon's shirt smelled like Cloud! And for some reason…he found himself missing the blond's presence. And honestly, he probably wouldn't have cared to put the shirt back on but….

_It's darker…._

He looked down at the dark bruise of the injury that'd been inflicted on him;the wound Cloud had told him about had been bandaged before he got there. When he took the bandage off planning to change them out, he found that the wound wasn't exactly healing…instead it…the skin there was darkening. Normally he would have thought it was infected and gotten hold of Aerith but…something about it was bothering him. It reminded him an awful lot of the wound the king had on him before he…

_No…I don't have time to think about that. I need to get everyone to Hollow Bastion first._

"Still sulking, huh?"

Leon opened his eyes glaring over at Cid, though in a sense happy for the distraction…if not to where it led to. "What gave it away?"

"Maybe the constant grunting you keep giving every five seconds," Cid said glancing out the corner of his eyes at him, as he easily flew the airship like he'd been doing it all his life.

Shrugging, Leon sniffed turning his head away from him and closing his eyes again. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, kid, sure." Rolling his eyes, Cid easily reached up at the small pack of cigs being held up by his goggles and pulled one out slipping it between his lips. "You ready to tell me what's got you so peeved that you had to slam my door?"

"Cloud…" Leon frowned and lowered his voices, not wanting any eavesdroppers listening. That was one good thing about Cid though, no matter the problem, he was always willing to listen and help. For an old man, he sure did know how to help a person calm down.

_Not sure if he can help this time._

"He got made when I suggested that Auron might have been the one to destroy his home." By now, it was only naturally that Cid knew everything that was happening. After all, people wanted to know why weird dark creatures were invading their homes.

"…Suggested?"

Leon scowled. "I…more or less told him that Auron was a murderer."

"…You have no tact." Cid glanced over at him then, eyeing him. "And you definitely need to learn how to communicate."

"What do you mean?" Leon asked, frowning and eyeing him in return, not liking the way he was being looked at. It was like Cid was saying this was all his fault. And it wasn't!

"I mean," Cid said, putting the ship on auto-pilot as he leaned back in his chair reaching for his lighter, "if you really like the kid that much, then flat out tell him that."

Leon knew his face must have lit up then. He almost choked before he weakly said, "I-I don't-"

"Don't lie to yourself." The pilot of Highwind leaned back in the chair as he closed his eyes taking in the first breath of his cig since this trip. How long had he held out? He was usually a chain smoker. "You're still young. Ya better take this chance while ya still can." He blew out a puff of smoke as he looked over at Leon watching for his response. "Ya don't wanna grow up old and alone like me. Trust me." A look seemed to pass on his face; one that just seemed to say he regretted it…regretted a time he'd missed back then.

"Cid…." Leon frowned at the look, a little worried about him.

"Now get back in there and apologize for whatever dumb thing you said."

Leon blinked and he started to get up before he sat back down quickly, shaking his head. "I can't." He sighed as he hunched over holding his head in his hands. "I'm…actually afraid." He frowned never having to want to admit that fact. He was Leon, the first command of Radiant Garden. He wasn't afraid of anything, not afraid of monsters, or war or even the fangirls that chased after him…but this…was different. "I…I don't know what's happening to me, but I don't like it. I feel…weak around him, but I want to protect him."

Cid didn't say anything as he took another puff of his cig letting the words surround them before he looked up at the ceiling wistfully. "Yep…I'd say you've got a bad case of love there."

Leon's head shot up quickly with a glare as he stared at Cid. "I don't want this!"

"Are you sure about that?" Cid said staring at him, daring him to say otherwise. The fear must have been obvious on his face before then Cid's features softened as he reached out ruffling Leon's hair. "Take your time then. You don't have to make a move until you're ready." Leon just nodded, staring down at the ground, taking comfort in Cid's words, the only other person that was like a father to him. He wasn't ready to face this…even as Cloud's image popped up in his head. And even if he did admit his feelings to Cloud…would he really accepted them? If he…changed into a monster like Ansem did…would he still….

* * *

"All the cells are empty," Sora said frowning as he followed the Roxas, Merlin right behind him guarding the two princes just like he said he would. "I guess Riku's not on this side then."

"No way," Roxas mumbled under his breath frowning. "This was a waste of time then." Merlin suddenly froze up, the other two noticing and staring up at him in curiosity.

"If something happens," Merlin said glancing around with his eyes even though he didn't move. "Stay close to me." The two brothers exchanged looks with each other before they nodded.

"But, what do you mean?" Sora said wanting to know what had Merlin spooked all of a sudden.

"I think he means be careful…and watch out for us," the figure said from beside them. Three of them turned quickly.

"Hey, it's that guy!" Sora yelled out before he frowned. "Wait…who are you?"

"Zexion," Roxas said frowning as he glared at the sixth Organization member. "He can find you just by your scent."

"Gross," Sora said wiggling his nose before he glared at Zexion. "What have you done with Riku!"

"Probably not something you'd like," Zexion said, not looking like he cared as he stared at them leaning up against the side of the door.

A sudden jolt of fear ran through Sora's body. Something happened…something happened to Riku. "W-what do you mean by that? Did you hurt Riku?" He pulled out his keyblade, glaring at Zexion. He felt Roxas beside him pulling out his keyblades as well.

"Who knows? I haven't touched him myself…but he does make a good…well." Zexion looked up at him as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Why don't you go take a look for yourself." He's in Vexen's little playroom." His eyes turned to Roxas suddenly as they narrowed shining with anger. "Traitor." The word seemed to echo around the room even as his vanished like he'd never been there. Any other time Sora would have been staring in awe but right now…

"Riku…where's Riku!" Sora asked, looking at Roxas desperately.

"He's in Vexen's room," Roxas said frowning as he glanced away. "That's the room where the nobodies and the heartless are created."

"Riku no!" Sora reached out grabbing Roxas's arm desperately. "Roxas, please, you have to take me to him! I need to see him! Please!"

Roxas looked at him, looked at the tears shining in Sora's eyes and the fear and slowly nodded his head. "Alright…this way." He didn't take long leading the way down the familiar path leading to Vexen's room. He was used to this by now. As much as he finding himself hating this place, this had been his home for sixteen years. So it only took about two minutes to find Vexen's room in Castle Oblivion as he stopped outside the door, hesitating before he sighed and rushed inside.

"This is it but…"

"No one's here," Sora said frowning as he came in behind him. "Where's Riku?"

"He's here," Vexen said as he stepped out of one of the rooms. "We've been waiting for you. We've finally gotten all the pieces in place now."

"Pieces?" Sora frowned as he stared at him. "What piece-" Sora's mouth widened as he stared watching the black figure stepping out from behind Vexen. "R…Riku?" The dark figure looked up at him looking more like he was part of a shadow than human, though his eyes shined a bright yellow. "Riku? Riku!" He started to run towards him, but Roxas quickly reached out an arm blocking his path, eyes staring towards the figured.

"It's too late," Roxas said softly, feeling a deep sadness he never knew he could feel.

"W-what are you talking about?!" Sora yelled out. "It's Riku! Let go!" He struggled to push past the arm but Roxas was standing firm, Merlin coming over and holding Sora's shoulders to keep him still, apparently also sensing that something was wrong.

"This is…my masterpiece," Vexen said as he looked at Riku. "Perfect heartless…no…perfect Nobody from heard to toe." He reached out resting a hand on Riku's shoulder.

"Don't touch him!" Sora yelled out, the keyblade appearing in his hand even as he was being held back by the both of them.

"Sora!" Merlin yelled out, doing his best to help keep him secured.

"Stay back!" Roxas yelled out suddenly as he saw Vexen taking a step towards them. "We're not your pawns."

"But you were a pawn from the beginning," Vexen said not sounding like he cared as he inclined his head. "Or did you just now notice that you were being watched all this time?"

Roxas hesitated staring at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you know."

"What?" Vexen shook his head moving closer as he pointed to the door. Roxas's eyes followed the finger noticing that Axel was standing there staring at him.

"A-Axel…?" Shaking his head, Axel looked away from him, frowning and not meeting his eyes. Why…why wasn't he looking at him. "Axel…tell me it's not true…tell me you didn't help them?!"

"I had to do it," Axel said still looking away from him. "I had to keep them updated…if I didn't they would-"

"I trusted you, Axel," Roxas said feeling his eyes clouding over with wetness. "I trusted you!" Sora took that moment pulling roughly from Roxas as he started towards Vexen, yelling out as he held his keyblade up ready to strike. "Sora! No!"

He started to bring the keyblade down, but when Riku stepped in front of Vexen, Sora froze up, the keyblade stopping mere inches from his face. "R-Riku…Riku…why…" A keyblade appeared in Riku's hand, Sora staring at it not realizing what was going on as Riku raised the weapon to attack.

"Sora!" Grunting, Merlin quickly held up a hand, a fireball shooting out to quickly hit into Riku's weapon as he rushed up to Sora. "Are you ok, prince?"

"Y-yeah," Sora said, his eyes looking distant. "But…Riku-"

"Our forces have been cut," Merlin said as he grabbed Sora's wrist, as he wondered where Mickey and the others were. "We have to go!"

"W-what! But I can't leave him like this!"

"I'm sorry, Sora." Sora stared up at him in confusion unable to react when he saw the dust floating over him causing his eyes to get heavy as he passed out. "We need to go, Roxas," Merlin said as he picked Sora up over his shoulder.

"Roxas nodded slowly turning and following Sora, though he paused by the door as he glared back at Axel noticing the other still didn't meet his eyes. "Don't follow us. And don't come near me or I'll kill you." He turned following Merlin out of the room, missing the hurt look that passed through Axel's eyes."

It didn't take them long before they met up with Mickey finding them in the center of the hallway heading towards them.

"You guys ok?" Mickey asked taking in the fallen Sora.

"We're all safe," Merlin assured him before looking over at Roxas. "Though we have some bad news."

"We'll take about it after we get out of here," Mickey said quickly looking at Roxas. "There are a lot of survivors by the front gate. Do you think you could open a portal long enough to let them all through?"

"Huh?" Roxas looked up, obviously thinking of other things before he slowly nodded his head. "Oh uh…y-yeah…I'll try."

"Hyuk, then let's go then!" Goofy said as he grabbed Roxas's hand leading him down the hallway. The others didn't take long to follow that example following the two males to safety.

Vexen smiled standing there staring off at the door the two had escaped in. This turned out even better than expected. It he's lucky, he can have two more toys to play with. Everything was going just as planned. He lifted a hand slightly, Riku looking at him before he moved silently, rushing past the quiet Axel as he headed out the door after the escapees.

"How is it progressing?" Xemnas said popping up on him.

"Very well," Vexen said giving a nod of his head. "Having research on both keybladers proved useful to my project. The prince is a faithful dog to me now." He looked over at Xemnas. "Not only that, but he's harness the power of the keyblade even in his darkened state. That is very useful to us."

"So then…."

"He is immune to the light," Vexen said staring towards Axel. "And he shouldn't need to be retrained…unlock some members. I have plans of adding in two more such toys for us to use…when the time finally comes."

"Then the world will soon know the meaning of the word Darkness."

Vexen looked up at the screen, watching the figures running down the hallway looking for escape. "Exactly. They will either join us or die."

"Perfect."

TBC…

Yeah...not sure what happened here but all my breaks in the story disappeared. Luckily, a reviewer was there to tell me. :gives out a thumbs up: Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, more to come soon or something.


	20. Princely Garbs 20

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Sweet, I updated!

Princely Garbs 20

He hadn't known he'd fallen asleep, but the shaking of the ship as it landed was enough to wake him up as Leon lifted his head and opened his eyes seeing grand city that was Hollow Bastion surrounding them. It wasn't quite like Radiant Garden, holding more order and military standing than Radiant Garden ever did. It felt like he was here too soon, especially since he still hadn't wrapped his mind around the whole Auron-Cloud, thing. What was Auron to Cloud? In fact…even if he did admit to himself that he had feelings…and then admitted to Cloud those feelings, what good would that do him? What if Cloud didn't even like him like that? Then it'd just make the whole situation awkward.

"Quit thinking so much," Cid grumbled plucking his forehead earning himself a grunt from the frustrated, cranky brunet. "You're making my head hurt!"

"And who's fault do you think it is that I am thinking so much?" Leon said giving him a look.

"Your little lover boy's fault since you wouldn't be in this mess if you didn't want to bang his boots," Cid said ignoring the look and the red cheeks on Leon's face as he got out of the pilot seat. "Since you're more or less the leader now, shouldn't you let the people know what's up?"

"Hm?" Yeah that's right…without King Ansem around…someone had to take over leadership in his absence. But…

_I'm not worthy of that…I couldn't even protect him…there's no way I can…._

"I told you to stop thinking so much!" Cid said barely knocking him in the back of the head with a fist. "You're a soldier and first command of the Radiant Garden militia. While their king and their prince are absent, they're going to be looking towards you for answers."

"I didn't ask to be lead-" Leon stopped what he was about to say, seeing the fist hovering over his head before he sighed and pushed to his feet as well. "Fine. But this is only temporary. And only until I can find out if Riku and Sora are ok."

"Good boy!" Cid said ruffling his hair and grinning. "You're finally starting to grow up and be a man. Well, except when it involves your love life, you wimp. Speaking of which," Cid looked back behind him down the long hallway seeing Auron heading for Cloud's room holding some clothes, the passed out Organization member still draped over a shoulder. "I see someone's trying to make a move on your little friend. You sure that's a good idea?"

"I told him to do it," Leon said not looking at Cid knowing what kind of look he probably got.

"Are you insane!" Cid yelled out. "You don't know a thing about that guy…and you just sent him in there with Cloud? That guy's probably a serial killer for all we know!"

"Didn't you just say earlier that I was stupid for insulting him?"

"Yeah because you shouldn't have brought him up where Cloud's concerned. That didn't mean you should stop watching out for him." Cid glanced around before he leaned closer lowering his voice. "There's something about the guy that gives me the chills. And no, it's got nothin to do with the fact that he's carrying around one of those Organ members or whatever." Leon frowned, some part of him happy that Cid felt the same way but….

"Cloud can take care of himself," Leon said turning and heading over to where everyone was sitting and huddling together. He wasn't making it up…he knew Cloud could take care of himself…but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

_Maybe…I should check on him once we're done with Sephiroth._

* * *

"I brought these," a voice said from the door causing Cloud to look up and smile seeing his old friend and idol standing before him. Auron walked over to him holding out the clothes, still easily holding Demyx up with one arm like he didn't weigh a thing. "Your friend had asked me too." Cloud nodded his head, frowning as he remembered how Leon had acted when he left. He'd been rude…and very unpleasing at the time. But Cloud hated to admit that his words did start to make him think and wonder about what really happened back in Kingdom Hearts that day. He was a soldier still…so despite Leon's approach…Cloud had no choice but to analyze every idea given to him.

"Thanks," Cloud said quietly, taking the dry clothes from him and slipping on his shirt. He started to remove the blanket then thought better of it as he looked up at Auron, still not quite the type to change in front of others. It seemed Auron got the hint cause he turned around giving Cloud the privacy he desired.

"You seem to be doing well," Auron said, Cloud not looking up yet until he had the pants on feeling at least a bit more decent now.

"Yeah," Cloud said buttoning up the pants and pulling his shirt down over it. "I've been training a lot while you were gone." He looked down a little embarrassed to be admitting something like that. "At the time I…had been hoping that you'd return so I could show you how much I had improved but…." He paused frowning, not even wanting to go into the details further.

"The attack," Auron said nodding but not taking it any further than that, obviously picking up on Cloud's reluctance to talk about it. "You have definitely gotten a lot strong, Cloud."

"Auron…" Cloud looked up finding the taller male looking down at him, his eyes closing when he felt the big hand touching him on top of the head. "I…I'm not that strong." He looked down again not wanting to see that proud look disappear. "I wasn't able to protect the king back then…and I wasn't able to protect the king now. I can't even protect the two princes I was sworn to protect!"  
"You're thinking too hard," Auron said ruffling Cloud's hair gently causing the other to look up at him again. "No one said you had to do everything by yourself. Also…fate plays a big part of everything…perhaps it was supposed to happen this way for a reason."

"But what reason would take away a person's life?! What good is there in t-" Cloud froze up, his cheeks reddening slightly when he felt the strong finger pressed up against his lips to silence him.

"You worry too much, Cloud," Auron said, his voice coming out softly despite his gruff looks. "In the cycle of life, we all have our own individual stories, some mingling together and some not. For the king…his story ended that day, sadly." He reached down wrapping his free arm around Cloud as he pulled him close into a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help protect everyone…but I'm here now…and I'll do what I can to protect you."

_It's…warm…._

His cheeks were still burning red, but the gentle words spoken and the warmth he felt made him feel comforted…almost like it had all those years ago. He wasn't alone in this anymore…Auron was here to help him again…together the both of them could protect Sora…and Kingdom Hearts once more.

"We should get going," Auron said though he seemed reluctant to pull away. "King Sephiroth is waiting…and I need to put the prisoner in a cell."

"Yeah…" Cloud said softly, taking a moment to pick up his sword and strap it behind his back before he looked at Auron, going into his more serious mode. "Let's go see him."

* * *

Though they hadn't been that far away from the entrance, it felt like it took forever for them to get there. Roxas knew they were being chased, not just by the heartless, but by Riku as well. It made him feel just a little bit relieved to know that Sora was still passed out or else they'd really be having issues right then. He knew Sora was extremely close to the prince, at least as far as best friends went. But right now…Riku was nothing more than a monster unable to think on his own.

_But at least he's unaware of what he's doing._

The same couldn't be said for Axel who hadn't even thought twice about betraying him. How could he?! And…why hadn't Roxas seen it? Had they been so close that he had been too blind to see it? Why would Axel want to betray him? What reason was there?! Unless…there was more darkness inside….

_No….I had felt his heartbeat myself…that can't be it…._

"Roxas!"

Roxas jolted out of his thoughts glancing at Merlin then looking ahead seeing the people gathered there, all of them women and children. Quickly holding up a hand, Roxas opened up a portal, already feeling the drain it was taking from the last bit of darkness he still had inside of him. "Everyone, get inside quickly!" They didn't have to be told twice, the children piling in first before the woman began going inside.

"They're not slowing down, hyuk!"

"Then try to hold them off," Roxas said not bothering to turn around as he concentrated all of his power into holding the portal open. If Axel had been there, he wouldn't be having so much trouble trying to keep the portal open. The two of them together with their dying darkness could easily have held the portal open for at least five minutes. But at this rate and with him being alone, it'd probably only last for two whole minutes.

"There's too many of them!"

"Then we have no choice," Mickey said from beside Roxas, a glow of white surrounding his body as Roxas looked to the side, his eyes widening at the sight of the giant mouse standing beside him, his keyblade held out. "Let's go guys!"

"Yeah!" Roxas heard Donald and Goofy say, his eyes unable to stop looking as he saw the giant dog and the duck standing ready with their weapons in hand before they charged ahead towards the enemy. Just who the hell where those people? They weren't human that's for sure.

"Just concentrate, Roxas," Merlin said beside him, holding Sora over his shoulder as he shot fireball after fireball towards the enemy. "Once everyone's gone inside, we're going in." Roxas nodded, turning his attention back towards the portal, seeing that it was definitely starting to shrink. At this rate, they'd never make it in themselves. But luckily for them, the last two people were going inside the portal now; one being a girl with red hair that glanced back at them before she went inside.

"Ah!" That sound had definitely come from behind him. Did someone just get hurt? Roxas started to turn when he heard the yell, but Merlin didn't even give him a chance as he grabbed him running towards the portal. "Wait, what's wrong!"

"Don't stop!" Merlin said holding Sora easily despite looking like quite the old man. "Just keep that portal open!" Roxas frowned but he did as he was told, doing his best to keep it as wide as possible. It didn't take but a minute for the three of them to get through the portal before Merlin let go of the smaller boy's wrist. Glancing back he looked to see King Mickey and his protectors on the ground, having been defeated by the dark boy that was heading their way. "Quickly, close the portal!"

"Ah, right!" Roxas started to close his hands together, seeing the dark figure making his way closer to them, glowing yellow eyes staring at him blankly just as the portal closed up in front of them. He hadn't liked the idea of leaving Mickey behind…but if that monster did get through, a lot of helpless people would have been hurt.

_Sorry…it had to be done._

"You did what you had to," Merlin said resting a hand on his shoulder. "Mickey would rather sacrifice himself than be saved for the sake of other's lives. Besides…" Merlin grinned as he turned away. "He's a lot tougher than you think. We'll see them again, trust me." He nodded his head in agreement. Somehow, deep down inside, he knew they'd meet again. Mickey was strong, one of the strongest people he knew. There was no way he'd be defeated so easily. "Besides, we have more things to worry about, like keeping these people safe."

_And about where we are._

Roxas glanced around, the white walls screaming with familiarity to him. He could almost remember when he was smaller wondering down the hallway and playing tag with…with someone…someone his size…someone that looked just like him. It had to be Sora…but he could also see his mom smiling at them both as they played and his dad…looking pretty proudly at them…and that guy with the spiky hair…and…someone…else.

"We're inside Kingdom Hearts," Roxas said glancing over as he saw Merlin lay Sora down on the master bed in the room they were all gathered in.

"You're correct," Merlin said glancing around. "And if that's the case…and both princes are inside then…we might just be able to…." He shook his head staring down at the ground lost in thought for a moment.

"Prince?" Roxas turned at the voice finding the girl from earlier standing looking at him in shock. "So you're a prince…?"

"Well, he's one of them anyway," Merlin said smiling as he looked over at Sora. "That's the other one over there."

"Y-You mean Sora's a prince?!" Kairi yelled out before lowering her voice, her surprised eyes looking at Sora. "I always thought…there was something special about him but…." She turned her eyes towards Roxas again then, her look turning thoughtful as she stared at him making him glance away in discomfort. Besides Axel, he'd never been all that book on socializing or being close to people…and this girl definitely didn't help him anyway. "So…you're brothers?"

"We're…um…."

"Roxas, Kairi," Merlin said interrupting as he caught both of their attention. "I'm going to have to leave to speak to Cloud about this. If he knows how to activate the palace defenses, we might be able to keep the people here safe. I need the two of you to stay here and help keep Sora and the others safe." They both nodded, though Kairi's eyes turned towards the sleeping boy.

"So…is he ok?"

"He's perfectly fine…I just put him to sleep for a little while so he should wake up soon."

"I-I see…." She turned her eyes up to look at the tall wizard as she reached up brushing her hair out of her eyes. "And what about Riku?"

_Oh…so she knows Riku also._

"We will save him, don't worry," Merlin said resting a hand on her shoulder, Roxas sure he felt a soothing wave of magic exiting his hand. "For now just stay safely inside and if you hear or see anything suspicious, hide."

"Alright…"

"Bye bye for now you two," he said winking his eye as he disappeared in blue and white sparkles.

"Merlin huh? He seems pretty laid back." Roxas felt the eyes on him again and turned seeing the girl staring at him and frowning, obviously trying to figure him out. Again it made him feel uncomfortable to be analyzed like this. This girl was going to be serious business. Maybe if Sora woke up soon he could get her out of his hair and out of his business.

"You said you're Sora's brother right? So…who are you?"

"I…" Roxas frowned staring at the floor. "My name is Roxas. We're twin brothers, believe it not."

"I find it hard to believe," Kairi said slowly as she walked over to the bed sitting on the side of it. "Sora never once mentioned having a brother."

"Because he never knew about me," Roxas said daring her to say otherwise. "From what I'm being told by everyone, I was kidnapped at a really young age, so there's no way he would have remembered me."

"I see…"she sighed softly glancing up at the ceiling. "I'm glad either way though. It means he still has family…so he's not alone. I-I mean…he had us but…the only one who could sort of relate to his situation was Riku…and me too now." She gave out a shuddering breath, obviously thinking about something painful as she hugged herself squeezing her nails into her arms. "Do you feel lonely too?" She asked suddenly as she looked up at him.

"Huh? I uh…." He frowned because he hadn't really known loneliness until recently…when he learned what that feeling was. It felt extra bad now that Axel was gone….

_Why…why did you….?_

"I…I guess so."

"Then…let's be friends," she said smiling softly as she stood up holding out her hand to him. "My name's Kairi by the way. I'm a close friend of Sora's and…and I'm Riku's cousin. We're not all that bad when you get to know us."

"Friends, huh?" Roxas reached out shaking the hand, a small smile lifting to his lips as he looked at the comforting look on the girl's face. "I'd like that."

Giggling slightly, Kairi gently shook his hand in return. "It's nice to meet you, Roxas."

"Nice…to meet you too, Kairi."

* * *

"I welcome you all to Hallow Bastion," Sephiroth was saying in all seriousness from the throne he was sitting on, one leg crossed over the other casually. Guards lined the hallways, standing at every turn you made and guarding every door and wall in sight. It was…over done but amazing. The way they moved it was obvious that they took their training seriously. The people of Radiant Garden were staring in awe at them, some voicing compliments, others praising them and speaking their thanks at being protected. "The facilities here are free for you all to use so please, do not hesitate to use them. Should you need anything, I will have servants nearby that will provide you with anything you need."

"And what do you want in return?" Leon asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Nothing of course," Sephiroth said, though the look in his eyes said otherwise. "I just wish for everyone to stay here in comfort. You've just lost your homes…so for now…I want you to think of my home as your home."

_While having every action monitored day and night._

"Then…we accept your offer," Leon said frowning even as he bowed his head to the king. "And in return, please allow us to help you in any way possible."

"I can accept that," Sephiroth said as he stood to his feet starting down the steps that lead up to the throne. "However," he said once he got to the bottom. "I must speak with Cloud alone for the moment."

Leon tensed up frowning at that, realizing now that most of Sephiroth's attention had otherwise been all on Cloud from the beginning. "Is there something you can't talk about front of us?"

_Especially since I am the person in charge at the moment._

"As a matter of fact, there is. What I need to talk to Cloud about is a personal issue." Green eyes stared towards Leon daring him to say otherwise. Despite what people might have though, Sephiroth wasn't king for nothing. He was strong…really strong. In fact, he was probably stronger than Leon…maybe even this Auron guy Cloud was so fond of. Speaking of Cloud, the young blond hadn't even looked his way once. But he was, in Leon's opinion anyway, standing a little too close to the tall male with the eye patch. It didn't make him happy, that's for sure. Obviously Auron knew because he glanced over then leaned down whispering something into Cloud's ear that sent the other blushing brightly.

_What did he just say?!_

The bastard…he could swear that guy was looking smug. And Cloud…why was Cloud smiling at him like that? Leon tried to ignore the look Cid was giving him as he clenched his fist at his sides looking away. Fine, it had nothing to do with him anyway. He was Leon…first in command of the Radiant Garden army. It wasn't like he cared that he barely ever got Cloud to look at him that way…. Besides he had his duties to take care of anyway.

"Cloud if you will?" Sephiroth said heading over to a room, the door being opened for him. Cloud didn't seem to like the idea but he glanced at Leon for a brief second before following after Sephiroth disappearing into the room.

"You're all free to look around," Auron said looking at them. "Dinner will be ready soon. Please find yourselves a room and relax. Later if you feel like staying and living in Hallow Bastion, we can accommodate making houses for you to live in."

Leon frowned not being in a rush to leave, especially if it meant leaving Cloud behind with these psychos.

"Staying behind huh?" Cid asked stopping beside Leon, a cigarette in his mouth and a pack on his back. "Glad you're doing it cause if not I was gonna have to kick your ass."

"I just don't trust them," Leon said frowning as he turned his eyes towards Auron who was just walking off. "If I had my choice, I would have went in with Cloud. I just don't trust Sephiroth."

"Cause he's tryin to steal your man, right?"

"Cid!"

"It's the honest damn truth and you know it." Cid frowned turning his eyes towards the door then looking back at where most of the others were already heading off. "I don't like the idea of staying here for too long. They're already walking around on my damn ship like they own it! I don't appreciate that!" He frown deepened then, so much so that his brows wrinkled up. "And I don't like all this…military business. It's like they know something we don't. What are they waiting for?"

"I don't know," Leon admitted frowning also as he stared at the door. "But I don't like it. Everyone needs to stay alert."

"Now that's something I can agree on." Cid nodded his head as turned starting to walk away. "Anyway, I'm about to head back to the ship and make sure they're not touching anything. Damn idiots could bust the whole thing up!" Leon nodded watching the older male walk off before he returned his attention to the door. He knew getting close was out of the question considering the two guards standing by the door. And that was not even counting the guards standing around the room in general.

* * *

"Why did you call me in here?" Cloud asked frowning as he stared at Sephiroth's back warily. In the past, he wouldn't have followed on such an offer, king or not. There was just…something about Sephiroth he wasn't too fond of. Sure, he was a good king and he did spend a great deal of time with Ansem but….

_I don't like how he looks at me._

"To talk to you, of course," Sephiroth said taking the time to grab a bottle of wine as he poured a glass and held it out to Cloud, something the blond quickly declined. "You seemed to enjoy running away from me in the past. Why are you standing still now?"

Cloud frowned glancing away from the green eyes of the male staring at him. Those eyes always made him think of a wild animal staring intently at its prey. And for some reason…with the way Sephiroth would sometimes smirk it felt like that was the case. He'd been trying for the longest to get Cloud to join his army and follow under him, something Cloud found himself constantly declining. In the past, Leon had been there to help him or even Ansem but now….

_There's nothing to say I can't…my king's dead…the prince is missing and…I don't even know if Sora's even alive still._

Not only that but…even Auron was here working under Sephiroth. Was this maybe his fate? To stay here and work for the man whose niece he wanted to marry off to Riku?

"You're being pretty quiet," Sephiroth said as he leaned back against the desk in his little office, sipping on his wine. "But I will offer again to you the chance to stay here with me and serve under me. We can provide you with food, shelter, and proper equipment should you need it."

"No thanks," Cloud said, frowning at his automatic response. "As much as it could…help…I'm only staying here temporarily until I can find Riku and Sora again."

"Ah, that boy," Sephiroth said, obviously remembering the two boys that constantly hung out together. "Do you think the two of them are still alive?"

"I do," Cloud said feeling himself relax despite himself. With this casual atmosphere, it was hard to keep himself alert. "And it will be my job to protect them."

"I see…." Sephiroth shook his head, chuckling softly, a sound that did nothing but send a shiver down Cloud's spine. "Sora would be the boy you were training before right?" At this, the chuckling stopped as he took a moment to sip from his glass again. "So what makes him so important to you?"

"He's…" Cloud frowned stopping the words he'd come close to saying. "I think I should get back to the others."

"Yes, that would be best," the tall male said sitting the glass down. "But I want you to think about that offer."

"Is there a reason why you want me to join so much?"

"There is," Sephiroth said admitting to the truth. "But it's nothing I will reveal so long as you're not following behind me hundred percent." Again Cloud found himself eyeing Sephiroth questioningly. Just what was he up to? Why was he so insistent on Cloud joining him? It wasn't even like Cloud considered himself a good fighter. Hell, he considered Leon to be better than him even. He was only second in command after all.

"Go enjoy your dinner," Sephiroth said going behind the desk and taking a seat. "We still have plenty of time for you to think about it."

"I…I will consider it," Cloud said frowning as he left. That man…he was definitely up to something. And that thought came mostly from the fact that Sephiroth seemed to enjoy staring at him a little too much in his opinion.

"Cloud…."

The sound of relief in a voice he never thought he'd hear it come from caught his attention as he looked up to see Leon standing and waiting on him. And again, just like in the past…Cloud felt his heart pounding quickly at being so close so suddenly to the tall brunet. He quickly took a step back to gather his thoughts together.

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Leon asked, not making any move to get any closer.  
"Nothing…the usual," Cloud said keeping his eyes looking away, his arms instinctively folding over his chest. "I'm going to go wash up and I grab a bite." He started to walk, moving past Leon as quickly as he could. Well it almost worked until Leon grabbed his arm keeping him from going too far.

"Wait," Leon said, sounding a bit hesitant, enough so that Cloud actually glanced back at him, his eyes happening to meet up with Leon's at that moment. He could swear he felt a spark of something fly between them…but it was all that was needed to make Leon let go of his arm. "I just…wanted to say sorry for earlier," he said, the words coming out softly as he looked away, obviously feeling uncomfortable too. It might have also been from the fact that the guards around the room were having themselves a little show at their expense. Or at least that's how Cloud felt anyway. But then again, neither one of them could expression emotions all that well. "I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's ok," Cloud said sighing softly as he brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "I…maybe I overreacted a little. I should know better being a soldier…." He glanced up seeing that Leon was looking at him and gave him the barest hint of a smile. "But I'm thinking a lot more clearly now…thank you." Maybe it had been the play on the lights, but he was certain a red hue had suddenly dusted over Leon's cheeks at his words.

The brunet was quick to look away though, using his hair to act as cover as he reached up like he was fixing his hair. "You're welcome," Leon said glancing at him before he walked off not saying anything further. Now what had that been about? Not like he had room to talk seeing as he was still trembling from the touch Leon had left on his arm. What was it about the first commander that made Cloud feel like this? If only there was a way to make it go away, he could function a lot better. But the fact that Leon actually cared enough to say sorry to him did put a smile on his face despite himself. Ok…it was time to get a bath. He was feeling a little too hot right now, something he blamed on the lack of insulation in the room they were in. Besides…he still needed a moment to figure out what Sephiroth was up to. Maybe he'd take a look around tonight while everyone was more relaxed and hopefully asleep.

_We'll just see what he's planning then._

TBC…

Ah, I'm so sleepy right now. I sleep too much.


	21. Princely Garbs 21

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Sweet, I updated again!

Princely Garbs 21

Cloud took his time taking his bathing, preparing his mind for what he planned for tonight. He'd been sure to take himself a much needed nap right after he'd gotten done with dinner with the others, finding out what rooms they were located in…well everyone but Leon anyway. Something that bothered his a bit was that during dinner, Leon looked like he'd been about to say something to him before he changed his mind and left the table leaving Cloud sitting there staring off in confusion. And because they hadn't really been shown to any rooms to stay in, he couldn't even figure out what room Leon was in. Of course, he could have asked the guards lining the hallways, but something about them bothered him.

Despite that they didn't really talk to him, he felt like his every move was being watched. Something told him that these guys were well-trained in combat, something he had to take into accounting considering that he might actually end up fighting some of them tonight. He wished he'd at least been able to see what they're skill level was. If Auron had taught them, he was fairly sure they would be high. But then what would Sephiroth need with so many highly skilled soldiers? Well, it wasn't like he'd do too much snooping tonight unless the opportunity was open to him. He needed a general idea of the building's layout first, something that even after so few visits, he still didn't have. He was sure Leon knew everything about the place since he came in Ansem's place a lot. There was at least one particular place that Cloud knew held some suspicion to him. And he was pretty sure that place was probably well guarded by now, even if in the past it hadn't been. Anything that could help lead to what Sephiroth was hiding was good to him.

He had a feeling that whatever place had the most guards had to be it. If only he'd been able to talk to Leon, he could have told the brunet what he had planned to do. He wished he could tell him about Sephiroth's offer but then again, he wasn't even sure if he was going to take it or not. In the past he would have quickly shot him down with a no. But now…he'd found Auron here at this very palace. On top of that, his king was dead, both his princes were missing, and there was no telling what else was going on in the world. From the looks of it though, Sephiroth had a plan. And knowing Sephiroth, he knew what he was doing. Sephiroth wasn't the greatest strategic king for nothing. He knew about the creatures of darkness…and about the prince…so what plans did he have if the Organization did invade his kingdom?

Cloud wished he'd gone with Auron to the interrogation. There was no telling how much valuable information he could have learned.

With a sigh, he got out of the bathtub, drying off before toweling his hair dry, frowning at himself in the mirror. Sephiroth…just what did he want with Cloud. He could easily have gone after Leon, someone with far better skills than him. And he'd already gotten Auron to join him. So…why Cloud? Why did Sephiroth want him? What special skill did he have that Sephiroth thought was so important? Or was it a skill? Maybe Sephiroth just wanted him for him. Yes, Cloud wasn't dumb. He knew Sephiroth desired him for his looks, even if he never outright said it. The way his eyes stared at the second commander, it'd be a wonder if no one picked up on it at all. Besides Sora anyway. Even Leon obviously didn't like it, though why that was made Cloud wonder sometimes.

_Speaking of which, I should take a walk around and see if I can't find him myself._

Grunting he went back into the room getting dressed again and strapping the sword onto his back before pulling his gloves on. If he had Leon helping him out, the two of them would be able to look around much faster. He'd have asked Cid but he wanted the old pilot to stay safe just in case they did have to leave in a hurry. And Tidus and Wakka were still too young and still in training. There was no way they'd be able to sneak around without being seen. Hell, Cloud would be surprised if he could himself considering how the guards were watching. They stayed still like lifeless statues, but their eyes were constantly moving and watching like possessed creatures. It…well, it definitely creeped Cloud out to walk past them. It was almost like they were just waiting to be freed so they could attack. At least the ones that were actually walking didn't seem so bad, though Could had noticed on occasions that they did appear to look towards the ones against the wall with something akin to wariness.

Opening the door to his room, Cloud found himself greeted by the sight of one of the guards standing across from his room, eyes just staring straight at him. How long he'd been there, Cloud wasn't sure. But he sure didn't like this, not one bit. He'd feel better just going back to Radiant Garden. At least the creatures there didn't look completely insane. Moving carefully trying not to show what bit of fear he might have felt, he hoisted the sword up on his back ignoring the guard as best he could as he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Has he walked down the hallway, he couldn't help glancing back seeing the dark eyes following his ever move. Several other guards were standing against the walls as well, all of their eyes watching him, heads moving slowly to follow his movement. If he wasn't him, he was sure he'd have gone insane by now. Just what kind of training had these guys been put through?

The feeling of being stared at was starting to get so overwhelming that he was almost tempted to turn around and go back to the room. That was until the door in front of him opened up and a certain brunet stepped out. Cloud stopped where he was, Leon closing the door behind him before he turned and froze staring at him.

"I…" Cloud frowned glancing ahead at the guards staring at them before he turned his eyes to Leon. "Let's…take a walk into town. I need some fresh air." Leon stared at him for a moment before he nodded his head and turned starting to walk away, Cloud following. He knew Leon had been here many times before while filling in for King Ansem, and a couple of those times Cloud had been there as well. Sure, there had been guards standing around then, but never like this. They'd never seemed so…inhuman before. What happened to change that?

He felt just a little bit calmer as he walked beside Leon, for once grateful for his presence. It helped chase away the chills he felt going down his spine. In fact, maybe it wasn't such a good idea for them all being in separate rooms. Though how he'd be able to put up with being in a room with Leon for too long, he wasn't sure. Leon was quiet, but being near him always made Cloud feel…funny. He didn't like it…well he did like it, but he didn't want to like it. Oh, now that was confusing.

Almost as soon as they stepped out the gate heading into town, Cloud felt all the tension in his body disappear. He'd much rather not go back inside, only daring to go inside for the fact that he felt he needed to protect the people of Radiant Garden. At least he still felt obligated to do that anyway. Leon was walking beside, still quiet having not said a word to him since earlier that day. It made for its own tension though not in the same way as in the palace. But then again, looking at Leon's face, Cloud could see that the other was looking around them apparently taking note to make sure they hadn't been followed. Glancing around, Cloud didn't pick up on any movement. They were in the clear for now, the night sky doing well to blend them in with the crowd as they went into town hearing music coming from the various bars, adults crowding the streets busy with going out to have themselves a good time. They weren't worried about monster attacks here…why was that? Maybe Sephiroth made them feel so secure that there just wasn't any need to.

"This looks good enough," Leon said stopping by a large tree and turning leaning his back against it as he folded his arms looking down at the ground. Cloud nodded, standing there awkwardly not sure what to say. Well…at least he knew what to start with anyway.

"I'm not sure how long we can stay here," Cloud said moving to the side of the tree and sliding down sitting on the ground, his arms resting on his bent knees. "I don't trust Sephiroth or this whole business. Something's not right."

"You mean the guards?" Leon asked glancing over at him.

Cloud looked at him from the corner of his eyes before looking down playing with a blade of grass. "Yeah…but not just them. I fee like something's going to happen soon…and I'm not sure but I don't think it's going to be a good thing. Sephiroth wants me to join but he hasn't said what he wants me to-"

"Are you thinking of joining him?" Leon asked interrupting casually, though the words held a bit of resentment to them.

"I…no…well…I don't know," Cloud said truthfully, a frown coming on his face. "I mean…King Ansem's dead…but as long as the two princes are still alive then…I'm still loyal to them." Thinking about that still gave him an ache in his heart. He'd considered King Ansem to be a very close friend, someone he was able to relay his problems about Kingdom Hearts to when Sora was still oblivious to his being a prince. Not only that but he'd been a good friend too. He'd be missed.

Leon nodded his head slightly before looking down again closing his eyes. "Cloud."

"Hm?" Cloud glanced over at him again wondering what the hesitation was with his name. "What's up?"

"…." Leon didn't say anything right away, making Cloud wonder if maybe he'd just been hearing things. But then Leon turned around, his arms dropping from his chest as he looked down at Cloud, the unsure expression on his usually bland face looking cute. "I…i-if something does happen here, I want you to take everyone to the ship and get out of here."

"Wait but, what about you?" Cloud asked quickly, not liking where this was going as he stood up.

"I'll stay behind and take care of Sephiroth and whatever else there is."

"Then I'll stay too!"

"We need someone to lead the people out!"

"Cid can take care of it! He was a former soldier after all." Cloud lowered his voice, frowning at how excited he'd gotten in just those few seconds, a couple of people looking their way at the outburst. Leon seemed embarrassed too as he glanced to the side, a light coloring of pink on his cheeks.

"I'm not…it's not about that," Leon said softly, not daring to look at Cloud making the second in command wonder what he was thinking. "I'm…worried about you," he admittted, glancing at him before looking away again, putting his attention his clothes a he dusted away invisible dirt. "I won't let Sephiroth hurt you."

Cloud felt his eyes widen slightly, his heart beating quickly in his chest as he stared up at Leon feeling his own cheeks redden. "I…I can take care of myself."

"I won't let Sephiroth have you," Leon said quickly still not meeting his eyes. "Something about him being…near you bothers me. Not just him, but that Auron guy too. I don't…like them being that close to you."

Cloud blinked in confusion walking around until he was looking up into Leon's eyes, the sexy orbs glancing away quickly though the cheeks did get redder. "Leon?"

"I…I don't hate you," Leon said lamely sounding like a lost child for a moment. "So I don't want you to get hurt."

Cloud blushed slightly staring up at him, a small smile lifting to his lips. "I don't hate you either…. You know, we've been fighting side by side since forever. We're comrades whether you believe it or not. So, I don't want you to get hurt either. We should all escape together. This isn't our kingdom."

Leon looked at him, his mouth opening like he wanted to say something else, but he closed it again just giving a nod of his head. "Aside from Cid and Aerith, you're the only friend I've ever had."

"I could say the same besides Auron." Looking away, Cloud glanced over at a group of kids running by laughing and playing hide and seek with each other. "We'll protect everyone together. What we can't do alone, we can do together." Leon nodded at that, apparently ok with that. But there was still one thing that was bothering Cloud. "I also…I think it'd be wise to have everyone buddy up at least two to three to a room. And also not to let anyone walk around alone at any time."

"I agree on that," Leon said looking off into the distance back towards where the castle was.

"So…" Cloud said, his heart pounding as he started to ask his request. "If…if it's ok, I'd like to room with you." Leon looked at him in surprise before he quickly hid it giving a slight grunt.

"Whatever makes you happy," Leon said softly. Cloud found himself almost saying "you make me happy," but caught himself not even sure where those thoughts came from. True, he did feel happiest when he was around Leon or when he was thinking about his past but….

_But that doesn't mean anything else is going on._

"There's only one bed," Leon added in sounding a bit shy now. "So I'll let you have it. I'll sleep on the floor."

"No," Cloud said frowning at him. "It's your room, you take it."

"You're the guest so you take it."

"Well you're a guest too."

"…Point taken." Rubbing at his temple, Leon closed his eyes as he gave out a sigh. "Fine…since we probably won't be asleep at the same time, we'll take turns. I'll keep first watch then you can take second. If something happens we can alert each other."

"Also, I wanted to know if Sephiroth was hiding anything inside the palace. I'll need a look around to see where everything's at."

"Don't worry about that," Leon said shifting his weight slightly. "I've memorized almost everything I could in the palace. There was only one place I couldn't go. And even then it was heavily guard. I'll draw a map out for you later." Now he frowned eyeing Cloud looking like he was trying to read his thoughts. "Are you planning on something?"

"I want to find out what Sephiroth's hiding," he repeated. "Besides that, I'm curious to know why the guards look like that. They're like wild animals."

"Secret experiments?" Leon frowned at that. "It sounds like something he'd do."

"So I'm thinking of looking around maybe later tonight and-"

"Cloud!"

"Merlin!" Cloud yelled out jumping back as the wizard popped up. The sudden appearance of the old wizard didn't do anything but draw a crowd as people cheered thinking that a magic show was being put on now. It didn't help that Merlin was still wearing his ridiculous robe.

"Cloud, we have to figure out how to-"

"What!" Cloud yelled out unable to hear him over the cheering for more.

"I said we-"

"I can't hear you! We'll need to find someplace quiet!"

Leon grabbed his sword giving a threatening glare towards the group as he tried to stop them with intimidation…that only spurring up the girls in the group to squeal out and debate over who the sexy brunet was looking at. And for some reason they made Cloud feel a little frustrated hearing them talking about Leon like he was a piece of meat. Not only that, but they didn't even know where Leon's preference even lied. They knew nothing about him, hadn't spent a day with him and yet they-

"Cloud, let's go!"

"Huh?" He looked up seeing the others had already run off then frowned before quickly following, ignoring the worried look Leon tossed his way. It wasn't like he was jealous of how those girls were looking at him…or was he?

That made him almost stop in his tracks. He'd been thinking about Leon quite a lot lately, even with Auron around. Why was he thinking about Leon? Why did he feel so warm when he was near him? It couldn't possibly be love right? Not when they were both guys and….

_And what? After we told Riku and Sora that they couldn't be together…it just wouldn't…._

The same situation applied to Cloud. Once all was right, he and Sora would be returning to Kingdom Hearts where they had to rebuild their kingdom, whereas Riku would have his own rebuilding to do with the help of Leon and his friends. There wouldn't be any reason for them to see each other….

"Cloud pay attention," Leon said frowning at him from their little hiding place in the alleyway.

"Huh? Oh right." Cloud leaned closer his focus falling on Merlin wondering what news he had. He'd have plenty of time for his own torture thoughts. And from the look on Merlin's face and the tiredness in his eyes, it wasn't good.

"Riku's been taken by the Organization," he said not pausing as he continued, "and the darkness has entered his body. He's under the control of the Organization, and right now they're going to make him kill Sora."

"What?!" That got Cloud's attention for sure. Sora was in danger! Not only that, but Riku had been infected by the darkness. There was no way they could-

"But," Merlin interrupted quickly. "Both princes of Kingdom Hearts are there." His eyes locked up on Cloud's as he gave a nod of his head. "They're both waiting for me at Kingdom Hearts right now as we speak. I believe you may know what this entitles."

"….."

"What?" Leon frowned looking at the two of them confused. But for Cloud…it was like a new light had shined for him. There was hope yet…with the light…and with just the right timing maybe….

"You need to awaken the light in kingdom hearts, right?" Cloud asked not waiting for a reply. "If they're both there, then there's a way. But they'll need to go deep in the basement alone…and they'll need to be prepared." He frowned then folding his arms over his chest in frustration. "I just wish I could be there to guide them."

"You will in spirit," Merlin said smiling as he rested a hand on his shoulder. "So whatever's down there will return the light to the world? Well that sounds like an easy enough task."

"Just make sure they know to stay cautious, it's dangerous. Just tell them to be extra careful…and be prepared for anything."

"I sure will," Merlin said before he winked his eyes at them. "You two be careful out here yourselves. Sephiroth may be king, but you never know what's going on in someone else's home." Cloud glanced at Leon before he nodded his head. "We understand. Take care, Merlin. Tell us how things go and…and protect them for me."

"For us," Leon said quickly causing Cloud to glance at him shyly. How could he forget that Leon felt just as protective of those boys as he did? No…he hadn't forgotten he was just worried. Sometimes he felt like a father to them or at least someone they could look up to. He only wished he was there to help them. But if what he was thinking would work…then there was a chance to save Riku also.

_Just...be careful, Sora. Don't lose your focus._

"Well, it's time to head back," Merlin said as he waved at them. "I'll be back with updates as soon as possible. We've got a lot of people there at the palace so I'll be sure to protect every last one of them."

"Alright, thank you," Cloud said watching as Merlin disappeared before he looked up at Leon. "We should head back ourselves."

"You're right," Leon said frowning as he turned looking at the palace. "We've got some people on our side to protect as well."

* * *

"Iku! Iku, look!" The young version of Sora took a finger point in awe at the tall tree inside the garden located at Sephiroth's palace. He'd been lucky enough to get to go with Riku to see the other king's kingdom that one time, though he'd stumbled onto the garden by accident. There wasn't a sole inside besides the two of them, enough to let them explore as much as they wanted. Which was when Sora's eyes had spotted the giant lone tree sitting at the center of the garden, nothing else growing around it. It was beautiful. It had an opening at the base that looked very similar to a cave to him. In fact it kind of looked like a door, though where it led to he didn't know.

"What is that?" Riku asked, ignoring the fact that the smaller boy still had a habit of saying his name wrong.

"It looks like a door," Sora said flat out before looking back at Riku. "Let's go explore it!" Riku frowned and shook his head as he stared at the door, feeling like there was something just not right about it. That door, whatever it was, was giving off something he didn't like the feel of. He'd always been able to pick up on things like this, a sense coming over him that told him that something was bad news. This time was no exception.

"Iku, come on, pleeeeease?" Sora gave him the big puppy dog eyes that, in a normal situation, would have turned Riku to mush. But this time…it did the exact same thing. He could never say no to those eyes. Which usually caused him and Sora to get into a lot of trouble. Not to say that he didn't cause a handful of mischief himself. But he knew Sora wouldn't tell anyone what they did. They trusted each other and depended on each other. Sora was his best friend, someone that was even closer to him than his own cousin was.

"Fine fine," Riku said giving a sigh. "Let's go." He hadn't noticed the weird wards that were posted around the tree nor had he read the signs that told him to go back. He hadn't heard the rumors about people getting near the tree and disappearing. And on top of all of that, he hadn't know that Cloud had been watching them right at the moment until he saw the taller male rush over stopping in front of them and pushing Sora back just before he could get past the wards.

"Ow! T-that hurt!" Sora said pouting as he stared up at Cloud, water in his eyes. He'd scratched his knee on a rock when he feel and it was bleeding now, but Riku knew…that what Cloud had just done had saved him. Why…why couldn't Riku just be able to save him too? Why was everyone else also able to make Sora so happy? How…how could Sora be so happy not knowing about his past?

* * *

Gasping, Sora shot up in the bed, startling Kairi who happened to be sleeping nearby to him, obviously exhausted from all the torture she'd been put through thanks to the Organization. "I know…I know what they're after," Sora said staring at the two of them before he frowned. "At least I think I know…."

"You do?" Roxas asked, obvious having fell asleep though he tried to make it look like he hadn't as he looked away. "Well what is it then?"

"The door," Sora said staring at him feeling a bit of fear at what he was about to say. "You know how we have the door to light here in Kingdom Hearts?" He waited for Roxas to nod before he continued what he was saying. "I don't remember the place but…I know…there's a door to darkness."

"A door to darkness?"

"Yeah…I saw it one time when I was little." He closed his eyes thinking of the fond memory of his childhood…and of the frightening things Cloud had told him about the door to darkness. It wasn't until a few years ago that he assumed Cloud had made it all up just to scare him to make him stay away. Now…he was pretty sure it was all true. "I think…like how the door to light leads to the Magic Kingdom…the door to darkness must lead to something else."

"Something else? I wonder what it could be?" Roxas said thinking about it and glancing at Kairi before looking at Sora.

"It's something…something sinister."

TBC…

And that ends that chapter or something like that. I'm surprised I finished it considering all the way we've been doing at work lately. Overtime is not fun.


	22. Princely Garbs 22

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: And a little bit longer but...I updated again!

Princely Garbs 22

"Good news!" Merlin yelled popping up in front of them making Sora yell out as he fell backwards onto the bed. "We're going to reactivate Kingdom Hearts."

Sora blinked staring up at him in confusion, though he wasn't the only one this time. "Reactivate?"

"Yes," Merlin said pulling on his beard looking thoughtful as he turned walking off, the others glancing at each other before they quickly followed him. Kairi started to follow too, but obviously got worried about leaving the people alone in the room and stayed behind to help protect them. That was just one of the things Sora had a strong respect for about her. She'd always be there to take care of the people, no matter what was going on. She was strong, both her…and Riku. "With both of you here, it could be done. We'll bring back the light that protects Kingdom Hearts and keeps the darkness out."

"The light?" Roxas asked getting interested now as they started down the steps to the first floor. "You mean something that'll fight against the darkness."

"Yes. Course Cloud knows more than I would about it. But your keyblades are well…the key to everything. Well not just that, it also will take a lot of courage and confidence in yourself. And if this is done right," he said glancing over at Sora when he said that, "we might be able to return Riku to normal."

"So how do we bring back the light?" Sora asked, ignoring the look Roxas gave him as he felt his heart light up. If there was a chance to bring Riku back, he'd take it. Anything to have his best friend…the one he cared for most back with him.

"That, my young ones, is where you come in," Merlin said stopping in front of a door and opening it. The two boys peered down the steps leading to a darker place since no light was there to shine. "You'll have to take this path alone…I can't say what's down there but…either way be careful."

Sora blinked then swallowed looking down into the darkness. "It's…really dark. Are you sure it's down there?"

"It's not like we have much choice," Roxas said looking at his twin brother, finding Sora that the both of them had lost someone special some kind of way. "If we don't go, the darkness will just keep taking over until nothing's left."

"Yeah you're right," Sora said sighing as he held out his hand, the keyblade appearing. "That doesn't mean I have to like it though." Sora concentrated just a little bit of energy into the keyblade, the end of it glowing and serving as a flashlight as he looked at Roxas putting on his best determination face. "Let's go turn the lights on."

Roxas couldn't help smiling a bit as he nodded his head, the two of them starting down the steps. "Yeah."

"Be careful," Merlin said from the stop of the stairs waiting until he couldn't see them anymore before he closed the door. Now the only thing there was left to do was wait. He headed back to protect the people, certain that the organization would eventually send someone there to try and stop them. He could only hope that Sora and Roxas moved quickly enough to prevent it. He also hoped things went as planned so that they could help Riku. He was surprised that Sora seemed to be holding up pretty well considering that Riku was his close friend. He either had to be in a state of denial or he truly hadn't lost confidence that he could bring Riku back. Either way…they must succeed.

* * *

The sleeping arrangements seemed to work out good enough, Cloud curled up on the floor on one side of the bed while Leon had done the same on the other side. Neither took the bed, something Leon frowned about as he looked as the blond. Was there a reason he wanted to force the second in command into the bed? Those thoughts made Cloud blush as he shook his head. No, it was nothing like that. It just seemed that Leon was really worried about him. Why was Leon worrying over him anyway? He could take care of himself.

Being as quiet as he could, Cloud got up, slipping his shoes on quietly and glancing over to see if Leon was still sleep before he started for the door. He paused debating if he should take his sword or not, then decided against it reaching out to open the door quietly. He wasn't planning on fighting, and the sword would only slow him down. He was just going to look around, see what he could find, then return and report it to Leon.

"Going somewhere?" came the whisper from behind him causing him to turn quickly. Leon was leaning up on his arms staring at him through the darkness, though all Cloud could really see was a brief outline of him. How long had he been awake? Or had he been pretending the whole time?

"I'm going to go see what I can find on Sephiroth. He's up to something, I can feel it."

"Then I'm going with you," Leon whispered back standing to his feet already having his shoes on. So he'd known that Cloud was going to sneak out. Why hadn't Cloud noticed that? "I'm not letting you walk around here alone. I don't trust those guards." Cloud frowned. He didn't trust them either. Not with the way they stared…they were like beasts in human form. If that was the case, then what was the best way of getting out undetected? Chances are, there was one waiting right outside the door.

Leon gestured for him to come over to where he was and Cloud blinked before he went over stopping beside the brunet male, trying to ignore the fact that he could feel his warmth by being so near to him. "I found this out by accident the last time I was here," Leon said as he took hold of the candle on the wall pulling down, a small door opening up beside them leading to a dark hallway that would not have been on the castle map. "We should be able to sneak out this way…hopefully they won't be able to spot us that quickly." Cloud nodded starting to go inside before Leon stopped him resting a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look up at him, blushing at how close they suddenly were to each other, close enough that he could see Leon's eyes in the darkness. He knew his own eyes were easy to see, having always glowed ever sense he joined Kingdom Hearts becoming their commander. But it was nothing startling since Leon knew about it already.

"I…" Leon frowned a bit stopping what he was saying, the hand squeezing lightly on Cloud's shoulder before it reluctantly let go leaving a warm imprint from where he'd been touched. "Just…stay close and be careful." Leon said leaving it at that as he turned heading out through the door in the wall. Cloud just nodded slightly even though it wasn't seen and followed him out, trying to stop the fluttering of butterflies in his stomach. The touch didn't mean anything. It was all in his mind.

"…." Or at least he hoped it was anyway. He didn't need help stressing out; he was already doing that enough as it was.

* * *

"I-It's kinda c-c-c-old down here," Sora stuttered rubbing at his arms as they kept going down the steps. He remembered going down into a basement one time before when he'd first gotten his keyblade, but something was different about this area. It looked as though no one was supposed to be down here. Just what was it they were supposed to do anyway? It felt like they'd been walking for ten minutes, maybe longer. But the further down they went the colder it got. If they weren't careful, they'd end up freezing after a while.

"Y-y-yeah," Roxas said from beside him rubbing at his arms as they kept going down. "I-I-I wonder why it's so c-c-cold down here."

"M-Maybe because it's so f-f-far underg-ground?"

"I-I don't know…look!" Roxas turned down the steps, ignoring the breath of air he could barely make out in the darkness despite the keyblade acting as their light. "There's a d-d-door!" The two of them moved faster then, just wanting to get this done with as soon as possible. Merlin hadn't explained what was supposed to be down here, but it sure would have helped to give them at least some idea.

_But we can't stay too long…just in case the Organization tries anything._

"The door's o-o-open," Roxas said pushing it open and glancing at Sora before he started inside. "Let's h-hurry up and get this done w-with."

"Yeah…" Sora nodded his head a bit as he followed him inside, taking note of Roxas calling up his two keyblades. How was it that he was capable of carrying two while Sora himself only had one? Not only that, his didn't look no where near as cool as Roxas's did. It made him feel a little…jealous. But then remembering that Roxas had been away from home for so long…it made that little bit of jealousy turn to guilt in an instant. What if that had been him instead? How would he have acted? He wasn't sure if it'd have been so easy for him to believe that he'd been kidnapped. Just how much hurt and pain had Roxas been holding inside for all this time?

The room they stepped into was large, not anything you'd think would be downstairs in a basement. But then again considering how far down they must have went, it wasn't too surprising to see the large room here. It seemed like everything was covered in ice too, which explained the reason for why it got colder on their way down. Sitting at the very center of the room was a huge white door, similar to the one that Sora had seen in his dream. It gave him that same intriguing feeling too. He could already feel it pulling at him and glanced at Roxas noticing by the glazed look in his eyes that he must have felt the same way.

Something about this door screamed of good things, that this was what they needed to help bring back the light to Kingdom Hearts and to help Riku. But something was bothering Sora. There were black vapors of darkness surrounding the door, no doubt blocking it and keeping it locked up tight. It seemed wrong…like a spell had been cast on the door to make it the way it was now. Was it always closed like this or had it been open before? Was the closing of this door the reason that their kingdom had been destroyed? Something deep down in his heart told him it was true.

"W-wait," Roxas said softly, reaching out and holding Sora's arm to keep him from going anywhere. When Sora glanced at him, he had a frown on his face, obviously not so sure about this whole door thing. "S-Something's not r-r-right here…"

"W-What do you mean?"

"I-I mean…the darkness surrounding the door…i-it's a seal of darkness…. F-For it to still be intact like this h-h-has to mean that whatever put it there must s-still be h-here."

Ok…that didn't sound good. What did he mean it was still there? Exactly what was it anyway? Maybe he asked his question too soon, cause as soon as the thought passed his mind, the ground beneath them shook making them stumble a bit and catch hold of each other to keep from falling. It went quiet for a moment before the shaking began again, Sora looking up at Roxas scared and confused.

"W-W-What is that?!" Sora asked, staring at him then glancing around as the floor shook again. Roxas tensed up staring back behind Sora. Sora blinked, a bad chill going down his spine at the look as he turned around seeing the giant monster hovering over them, its body covered in darkness except for the two glowing orbs of light. "M-monster!"

"Come on!" Roxas said grabbing Sora's hand and pulling on it running just in time as the monster brought down a hand slamming it into the spot they'd just been standing in. "Just what in the world was a monster doing in a place like this?! And not just any monster but a monster of darkness! How were they going to defeat something like that?!

"W-We'll have to kill it in order to b-be able to open up the door of l-l-light," Roxas said frowning as he ducked behind a pillar giving them a moment to breathe and think. The monster was too slow to keep up, eyes glancing around trying to figure out where they were hiding.

Despite being slow, however, the brute was strong. They were going to need a plan in order to fix this problem. But what could they use against a monster of darkness…except more light. But if he was strong enough to seal up the door to light, what would their little light be able to do?

"T-To get to the door of light, w-we have to destroy the m-monster," Roxas whispered out softly, his eyes focused on the monster even as his body still trembled from the cold. That was definitely making it hard to move around. "B-But to destroy the monster, we n-n-need light." Sora nodded his head staring at the monster watching it sniff at the air obviously still trying to find them. "So…h-how do we go about doing this?"

"D-Does the monster have to be c-completely destroyed in order for us to g-get to the door?"

"Well…" Roxas thought about it for a moment. "Maybe if he's r-really distracted, he might lose his f-f-focus on the spell…in that case we m-m-might be able to break through it with the k-k-k-keyblades."

"A d-distraction huh?" Sora blinked at that before he started to smile standing to his feet. "A-Alright, I'll do it."

"D-Do what?" Roxas said frowning up at him.

Sora just rested his hands behind his back grinning down at him cheekily. "I'll be the distraction w-while you break the s-seal."

* * *

Leon frowned peering around the corner of a hallway, his hand gently holding Cloud's hand to make sure the other stayed close to him. It'd been difficult to get this far without being scene. He was lucky to see that there weren't nearly as many guards as there had been earlier. However, that didn't stop his worries, instead making it worse. Don't most people leave their guards out more at night? Or maybe that was only at Radiant Garden that they did that. Still…it was kind of…eerie. Where had all the other guards gone? Well it wasn't stopping the fact that they needed to find a disguise. There were some places they wouldn't be able to go without at least something on.

He saw a room up ahead, remembering it to be where the soldiers kept their equipment and looked back at Cloud gesturing across before he headed that way. Looking at those glowing eyes in the dark use to creep Leon out, especially in the past. But now…they had something of an alluring effect to them. He'd made sure to tell Cloud to keep his eyes close this time though, fearing that the other would give them away. That was the excuse he gave for why he had to hold Cloud's hand. It had nothing to do with wanting contact with the other more intimately, despite the fact that the glove did keep him from touching the other's hand.

Stopping by the door, Leon opened it quietly peering inside and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, rushed in pulling Cloud inside before shutting the door. He turned seeing that Cloud had closed his eyes to keep them from being seen. Leon blushed staring at the cute little expression on Cloud's face as he concentrated on not opening them, his looks looking almost like he was pouting. He felt an urge to lean close and kiss the lips of this man…but held tight as he finally let go of Cloud's hand. "You can open your eyes now."

Cloud opened his eyes glancing around, his blue eyes being like a beacon in the darkness. "…Where is this?"

"Their equipment room. I figured we could get away with more if we dressed like them."

"You're right," Cloud said turning and looking around as he started walking further into the room. "They've got a lot of stuff in here."

"Yeah, I noticed," Leon said staring at the stacks of weapons each separated by type. There was a lot in here…far more than what they had. It was like they'd been piling up and preparing for something. But just what could they be waiting on?

"Hey, I found some uniforms," Cloud said turning to him as he held up a pair of slacks that looked like they'd be way too big for him. "Some of them are different colors though. Which one should we wear?"

"Probably the red one," Leon said trying to remember how often he saw some of the soldiers in red. "They're higher in rank here, so we wouldn't be questioned unless we ran into someone else wearing it."

"Yeah," Cloud said before he frowned. "But if we're both seen in red, it'd draw a lot of attention. I think I'll wear the blue one." Leon nodded understanding to that. With Cloud's eyes glowing like that, it'd be best if he didn't stand out. Leon still found it odd though that the other's eyes had different densities of glowing. Sometimes they glowed bright like they were doing now, but most of the time there was a very dull glow to them that wasn't noticed unless you were standing right in front of him in the darkest room possible. It must have been bad timing that made them glow like this now.

Leon heard a ruffling sound and looked up sharply, regretting the action when he saw Cloud taking off his shirt, his chest stretching and showing off the slight muscles that could be seen even in the dark. It definitely didn't help that Leon was staring and seeing every little detail. Cloud was obviously oblivious to him, reaching down and unbuckling his pants, the belt giving a little jiggle as he started to slip out of the pants. Maybe it was the heated eyes that were watching him due to Leon, but Cloud looked up just as he started to push the pants down and, seeing the brunet staring at him, gave out a small gasp as he quickly pulled the pants back up.

Blushing himself, Leon turned his head quickly feeling like a pervert. Ok so…maybe he did feel a little something for Cloud that was more than borderline friendship. He didn't like how hard his heart was beating or how his hands felt sweaty or how his pants felt tighter.

"Sorry," Leon said softly, hoping the words got to him and at the same time hoping they wouldn't since it just wasn't like him to apologize. Why was he getting all flustered? They used to undress in front of each other all the time. Hell, they were soldiers! But he knew Cloud had never been all that comfortable with undressing around others. Maybe that's one of the things that surprised him now. Cloud hadn't even hesitated to undress. Was he so preoccupied with something that he'd forgotten?

_He must be thinking about Riku and Sora._

"I…it's ok," Cloud said sounding a little quieter than usual as he dressed faster getting into the guard uniform. "I…should have warned you that I was…." Leon felt the need to glance back at the unfinished sentence but had to fight the urge knowing he'd only find himself staring at the young blond again. "I think these might work," Cloud said changing the subject, that being the hint that Leon could turn around. Leon turned and froze staring at the young blond. It was supposed to make him look deadly but…for some reason the uniform actually made Cloud look…cute. "I found this too," Cloud said staring down at the weird looking helmet in his hand. "We could use this to hide our faces so they won't suspect anything."

"Good idea," Leon said having to swallow to keep from walking over and latching himself to Cloud. He did walk over though, intending to grab the red uniform so he could change himself. That was the intention he had in mind. However, when he heard the clattering of the helmet falling to the floor as a result of him grabbing Cloud's hands and pinning them to the wall, he knew those intentions had changed quick.

"L-Leon?" Cloud whispered out sounding confused as he stared up at him in shock. Leon stared down at him in return, just as shocked by what he did. Ok…now what? He'd obviously made things feel a little…awkward for the both of them. And no matter how many times he opened his mouth to say something, nothing was coming out. So then…what was he supposed to do now.

_My body's betrayed me._

He swore he could hear Cid in his mind saying, "you're supposed to kiss him then fuck his brains out," but he knew following that tactic wasn't the best option, especially considering the location they were in. But the position was perfect for them to-

_What am I thinking?!_

He quickly let go backing up a step as he looked away from the blond, heading over to the red guard's uniform on the floor. He could tell Cloud was still confused, the other having not moved since he'd been pinned to the wall. "L-Leon…w-what-"

"I tripped," Leon said quickly, leaving his back to Cloud as he started slipping into the uniform, not needing the other to see just what kind of reaction his "trip" had given him. He was…trembling all over…but it didn't feel bad…though it was a bit scary. Could being that close to Cloud really be doing that to him? Maybe he should start distancing himself from the other. Finished, Leon turned around finding the other kneeling and picking up the helmet quietly before he frowned a bit. He didn't look happy…or maybe that was just Leon's imagination. "Let's get going," Leon said picking up the other helmet there. He got a slight nod from the blond as the other stood putting on the helmet before the two of them started for the door, just in time to see it starting to open.

It was too late for the two of them to hide as the guard came into the room looking around before his eyes spotted the two by the wall. Leon tensed up then, starting to reach for the sword beside him but froze when he saw the guard give a quick salute and close the door. Ok…what had that been?

"That was odd," Cloud said from behind him.

"Yeah," Leon said trying to ignore how close Cloud was to him. He could tell the other was looking at him, probably confused by earlier, but he didn't say anything as he started walking towards the door. "Let's go."

* * *

"It looks like the keybladers are planning on opening the door to light," Saix said as he appeared before his Superior kneeling in front of him.

"No matter," Xemnas said as he stood up from his chair walking down the steps before resting a hand on top of Saix's head. "We'll just send our own prince to open up the door to darkness." He paused for a moment staring at the ceiling in thought before he pulled his hand away. "Take two others with you and go to Kingdom Hearts. Opening the door to light won't save them, but I'd rather have less to deal with later."

"Yes superior." Saix stood to his feet, a somewhat sadistic grin appearing on his lips. He wasn't normally the type to show emotions, but when it came to action, he was prepared to go. From the sounds of it, Xemnas didn't want them brought back alive either. That'd just make this all the more interesting. Now…what two to take with him to dispose of the keybladers?

TBC...

Hehe, I have too much fun torturing Leon and Cloud. But there's definitely alot of action coming up soon.


	23. Princely Garbs 23

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: ANd this time I updated a little bit faster!

Princely Garbs 23

Looking around didn't take long at all with the uniforms on. It was only a matter of time before Leon found them back in the room again. There had been at least three places of questionable integrity. First there was the door leading down to the basement that had a guard on either side of it. They weren't wearing the blue uniforms the others had nor the red one Leon had on. Instead, their uniforms were a green color. Either way, Leon was fairly certain that, red uniform or not, he wouldn't be getting in there. They probably would demand him to remove the helmet, something he knew he couldn't afford to do.

The second place of interested was the garden where Cloud had found Riku and Sora a long time back. He'd almost bypassed it until he glanced back to find that Cloud had stopped following him and was staring out at the garden. When he went back and asked the other what was wrong, the blond just shook his head and kept walking. Leon had frowned at that, but then again…considering their location, he'd be better off waiting until they got back to the room. Better yet…maybe a quick trip to the airship Cid created would be a better idea. He had a feeling they'd have far more privacy there than at any other place.

Finally, the third place of interest had been the door leading to the prison cells. Normally, Leon wouldn't have cared much about it. But knowing that one of the Organization members was being held there made him want to go to interrogate him himself. But he was pretty sure that it'd never happen. There had to be probably four guards just watching over that one guy. He knew Sephiroth was annoying, but he was sure he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't keep a guy like that being watched by one person. And even then it wasn't guaranteed they could stop his powers just by securing his hands. Just how did an Organization member use their powers? Right now for all they knew, he was just playing games with them.

_But what reason did they have for killing all those people?_

Sighing, Leon stopped in front of the airship finding only one guard standing there watching them with a frown. He frowned in return, glancing back at Cloud before he started forward. Instantly, the soldier gave him a salute, though his eyes were constantly staring at him. These guys…what in the world was wrong with them? Did Leon really want to know? Maybe it was just the tough training they had to go through…but then again what if it wasn't?

Leon went up onto the ship, Cloud following behind him without hesitation. It was like as soon as they were on the ship, he felt relieved…and surprised by the amount of people scattered around sleeping. In fact…everyone that had came with them was here…sleeping in the chairs or on the floor, wherever they could find space.

Seifer was sitting up against a chair by the door holding his gunblade in his hand supposedly keeping guard, though it wasn't easy to tell by the way that he was nodding off. Aerith had the children gathered around her holding the young ones to her as she slept, playing as their pillow and comfort. Selphie was curled up with Tidus and Wakka and started to open her eyes. As soon as they opened up and she saw the two of them her eyes went wide and a gasp escaped her lips.

"Calm down," Leon whispered quickly before the girl had a chance to scream as he took his helmet off. As soon as it was off, she seemed to calm down, Cloud taking off his as well from beside him. "What's everyone doing here?" Leon whispered trying to be as quiet as he could so he wouldn't wake everyone.

"Everyone felt really uncomfortable," Selphie whispered back glancing back towards the door making sure no one else showed up. "A lot of people were scared of the guards so…I think everyone just showed up here."

"I see…." It made sense. Even he didn't feel comfortable being around the guards. They didn't seem stable…and possible were deadly. "Go ahead and get some rest." He waited until she nodded and laid her head back down closing her eyes before gesturing with his head for Cloud to follow him as the two of them went back into the room where Cloud had first been placed. He was surprised that this room was still empty…no wait, Cid was there. Despite the situation, he still seemed to be pretty relaxed, even reading a book as he sat on the bed taking long puffs from his cig. Well it was obvious he wasn't worried.

"I see ya made it back," Cid said looking up from his book as he blew out a puff of smoke. "Took ya long enough."

"How long has everyone been hiding out in the ship?"

"Well they started coming in about an hour after we got here," Cid said still not looking up from his read. "Next thing I knew, the whole damn compartment was full. Guess I shoulda made more rooms. Tried ta give some of the girls the bedroom but they said they'd rather be where they could keep an eye on the door. Some strong ladies, I tell ya. Woulda been a lot worse though if I hadn't chased out all those damn creepy guards that tried to crowd in here. I ain't just gonna let any old person walk on in and take over my precious baby." Cid looked them over then, the look on his face looking frustrated as he took in their clothes. "And just what the heck have you two been up to?"

"Looking around," Leon said shrugging his shoulders. He decided to give Cid the full run down, letting him know just how uncomfortable he was with this whole idea. In the past, Sephiroth had never had guards like this…these guards were new to Leon. But it hadn't been that long since he'd last been here, so why the change? "I don't think it's safe for the people to stay here either. Something's going on here that we're not being let in on."

"So just what are ya suggesting?" Cid asked, though his eyes lit up at having a mission to do. What did he want them to do? That was a good question. They couldn't stay in a place that wasn't safe, not if there were other options open to them. He didn't want any more people getting hurt. The only safe place he could think of was the Magic Kingdom. They'd be sure to be taken care of there. If he knew just where Mickey's kingdom was, he'd have everyone sent there inste…

_Wait a minute…_

"Cloud…how far away is the Magic Kingdom?"

"It's not really part of our world at all," Cloud said frowning a bit as he looked thoughtful. "But the fastest way to get there would be to go through the door in Kingdom Hearts." The more Cloud had talked, the further his lips when down until he was flat out frowning looking at Leon suspiciously. "Why?"

Leon stared at Cloud before he gave him his suggestion. "Let's take everyone to Kingdom Heart."

He was a little surprised when he saw the frown deepening in Cloud's face. "Are you sure?" Cloud asked looking up at him. "…What do we tell Sephiroth?"

"Forget about Sephiroth," Leon said getting a little frustrated. What was it with Cloud thinking about Sephiroth anyway? Was he really considering working for the man, knowing he was up to no good? "I don't want you going near that guy," Leon said giving a bit of authority in his voice.

It seemed to be enough to spark something in Cloud cause the next thing he knew the other was glaring at him. "I am my own man…I can make my own decisions. If he's up to something, I plan to find out what it is and stop him."

"I don't trust him," Leon said getting angry himself as he glared down at him, trying to make him see the reasoning behind his thoughts. Cloud was a good fighter, he could admit to that, but after seeing those guards he had a feeling they were out of even his own league. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if they happened to gang up on Cloud. Worse, he didn't want to imagine what Sephiroth would do once he'd obtained the one thing he'd been wanting for a long time. "He's trying to manipulate you with words. He only wants to use you for his sick plans! I won't let you fall for his tricks!" This all felt too familiar to him, all this yelling that in the past he caused a big gap between him and Cloud. He didn't want to go through that again…and apparently by the annoyed look on Cid's face, he didn't want to deal with it again.

"I'm not that weak!" Cloud yelled out before lowering his voice, though the anger didn't disappear. "I can take care of myself. I've been fighting for this long against many things. Fighting against Sephiroth won't be any different."

"But if you lose then-"

"If I lose then I just wasn't strong enough to defeat him," Cloud said, clenching his hands at his side. It seemed hard for him to say that…and it clenched at Leon to hear those words. He didn't want to think of Cloud being gone…all for the sake of trying to make things right. He didn't want to….

"…I don't want to lose you," Leon said, his features softening as he reached out grabbing hold of Cloud's hand holding it gently. The anger in Cloud's eyes dissipated as he stared up at him in confusion and shock. The look itself didn't make Leon's heart beat any less faster, instead it felt like it could jump out of his chest. Did he really…just say that?

"L-Leon…." The look on Cloud's face said he was trying to figure out a lot of things. Maybe he was starting to put two and two together…maybe not. Neither one of them was very good with expressing their feelings. Maybe that was why Leon felt like he needed to do something to make Cloud open up to him…he didn't want anyone else to be the one to do it. He wanted it to be him…that made Cloud smile. And maybe he should just admit his feelings to himself, stop being a chicken, and just go with it.

A quick glance showed that Cid was sitting on the bed, the book forgotten beside him as he stared at the two of them with a big grin on his face obviously amused. The bastard was actually enjoying this. But it didn't help Leon feeling any more comfortable…instead he felt embarrassed as he pulled his hand away from Cloud's glancing off to the side.

"No, don't let me stop ya," Cid said, the grin not dropping for a minute even as he hopped down from the bed starting for the door. "I'll give ya some privacy." He paused when he was by the door giving Leon a look as he blew out another puff of smoke. "Don't go chickening out now or I'll have ta kick that ass of yours." Despite his word, he just smirked evilly before going out closing the door behind him.

It left Leon feeling more nervous than he did before. It didn't help that Cloud was looking from the door to him in confusion. He looked like he wanted to say something but seemed to be at a lost on what to say, though red tint in his cheeks actually drawing Leon's attention. Cid's words hadn't helped either, words that Leon was sure must have been running through Cloud's head trying to be processed. The airship pilot had obviously been waiting for a moment like this for a while now, the obvious click at the door signaling that they'd been locked in.

_Great…thanks Cid._

"I think he locked us in," Cloud said stating the obvious. Leon started to say something but the other moved heading over to the door checking the knob leaving him hanging. "Yes…it's locked." Leon wondered if he was really the only one nervous as he walked over to Cloud stopping when he was close behind him, the other turning to look at him then blushing seeing how close they were. He saw the eyes turn towards the floor quickly, the pale cheeks growing even redder. Why hadn't he noticed how cute he was earlier? What made him notice Cloud now? Had it been when Auron showed up? Maybe his jealously of Sephiroth? Whatever it was, he was actually glad for it now.

"Cloud," Leon said softly trying to get the blond one to look at him again. When the other refused to look staying silent, Leon sighed and used his fingers pushing Cloud's chin up, the other's surprised eyes staring up at him as he leaned close kissing his lips softly. He got a gasp of surprise in return but met no resistance as he used a hand placing it on the small of Cloud's back tugging him closer. The eyes that were staring at him started to glaze over the longer the kiss went on as he felt the other trying to respond to the kiss, the both of them being far too inexperienced at this.

If he thought his heart pounded before, it really felt like it was going to jump out of his chest now. But it didn't stop him from kissing the blond pulling the other close up on him. It wasn't long before the beautiful, glowing blue eyes slipped shut, arms coming up and wrapping around his neck. Leon tensing in surprise before he relaxed against him, confused by how warm his body felt. What had he been afraid of? This wasn't scary at all…it felt…nice. Had he really been running away from this?

_It feels right…._

"Leon," Cloud whispered against his lips, panting heavily as he half opened his eyes staring up at him still looking confused, though looking a lot calmer than he had before. "What just­-" He was silenced again as Leon leaned in kissing his lips again not giving him the chance to finish his question. The soft moan and the tender lips made him lose all his senses as he rested his hands on Cloud's hips pulling him closer. The reaction was a good one, letting Leon know that he wasn't the only one that felt this strong need.

He wasn't sure how or when they'd made it to the bed nor was he sure how he got Cloud squirming on top of him kissing him with abandon. He just knew that this was what he wanted, and for a little while, he allowed himself to relax and go with the flow forgetting temporarily what it was they were supposed to be doing. In his mind he could still see Cid grinning down on him and giving him thumbs up, but the image was completely erased as he opened his eyes staring up into the glowing blue ones that was looking down at him. He could still see the questioning look in those eyes and felt himself blushing slightly before he rested his hand on top of Cloud's head gently pulling down until it was resting on his chest.

"Get some rest," Leon said gently running his hands through the blond dreads. "We'll worry about what to do next when we're fully awake." He expected to get some resistance or some complaint saying that he wasn't tired yet and that they had a lot to worry about. Instead, he heard a sigh as the blond closed his eyes nodding against his chest. Leon couldn't help smiling as he gently petted the head on his chest and rubbing the thin back, taking note that it didn't take long at all for Cloud to fall asleep. Now that he thought about it, Cloud hadn't been resting very well lately, not since all of this had started.

Leon sighed ignoring the slight ache in his side as he stared up at the ceiling getting lost in thought. The problem still remained that Sephiroth was still up to something. They couldn't really ignore it…but they couldn't really leave everyone where it was dangerous. Therefore…he had to make the move. And he was going to do it tonight, while he was sure Cloud would stay resting and stay safe. The darkness around his wound was already spreading getting darker, getting closer to his heart. But he could hurt those important to him and those he wanted to protect, he should stay away from them while he could. He had everything ready and planned in his mind…now all he had to do was follow through with it.

* * *

"H-Hey, big and ugly!" Sora yelled out as he slid out in front of the monster, holding his keyblade out in front of him. The cold wasn't helping him to move much but he figured with a big creature like this, it wouldn't take long before he'd be warmed up and ready to go. All he needed to do was distract the monster long enough for Roxas to be able to disable the spell. How hard could that be? Well…minus his lack of actually fighting in real combat. "Whoa!" Sora jumped back just barely dodging as the beast slung its arm out throwing razor sharp needles of ice that stuck into the ground at the exact area Sora had been at.

_Oh man that was close!_

The beast was slow and probably stupid, but it was still strong. Sora would be lucky to be able to dodge all the attacks like that. Just how was he going to slow this big beast down? Taking a deep breath, Sora started running moving quickly as he dodged left then right to avoid the beast's fists as they slammed into the ground shaking the whole room. Once he'd gotten close he swing his keyblade hitting the monster in the side of the foot getting a roar of pain as the light from the keyblade ate into the flesh, part of the skin falling off. It surprised Sora, seeing the creature actually getting hurt, the black blood pouring free before evaporating into a dark mist. Creatures of darkness, he'd never really seen one up close like this before. The only time he'd seen it otherwise was when he'd been locked up in the castle and saw them running through the window.

_And Riku…._

"Sora, look out!" Sora looked up just in time to see the huge hand before it slammed into him sending him flying and hitting against the wall hard making him cough up blood as he bounced off. "Sora!" His head was swimming, eyes staring up just barely able to focus as he saw the huge beast starting to come towards him. He tried to push to his feet, but he kept sliding down, the keyblade not even coming to his aid. Was this really it for him? Was he really going to die down here? If he died then…what would happen to Roxas? What about Kairi and Cloud and Leon and all the others? What about…Riku?

That very thought, remembering his best friend and all the fun they'd had together…remembering how close they'd been…the kiss…the love he saw shining in those eyes…it seemed to awaken something inside of him…something warm.

* * *

"Sora! So-ahh…" Roxas fell to a knees, holding a hand to his head as he looked through eyes of dizziness staring towards Sora. He saw the other's body starting to glow, invisible wind blowing past them making Roxas have to hold up a hand to block it. What was going on? He felt himself getting even dizzier and tried to stand seeing that Sora's body was starting to float in the air. Something was pulling him closer…eyes closing for a moment before he looked down at his hand feeling himself pulling away from his body. Just what was going on here? "Sora…." He fell toward as he landed on the ground losing what conscience he had left.

* * *

The warmth was flooding through his body, chasing away any doubts and fears he had. For a moment he thought he'd heard Roxas's voice in his head, but it was quickly lost as he stared up at the beast, holding up not one but two keyblades in front of him. There was another keyblade floating around him giving him a sense of security and power he'd never felt before. He took note to the fact that he was floating now, his clothing having turned white. It was weird, this sensation. It was like he could feel Roxas there with him making him stronger.

The beast gave out another roar lifting its hand again, the ice forming in its palm. Sora didn't give it time to form though, zipping forward with the keyblades ready as he flew past the creature swinging the blades and cutting into it, the hand actually falling off and landing on the ground before it disappeared. Roaring in pain and anger, the beast turned to swing at him with the other hand, but Sora was too quick for him, zipping past him again and again chopping at any part he could get to. Pools of blackness were dripping down from the monster, coloring the ice beneath it with the darkness. The beast was starting to move slower now, something Sora took notice of as he saw that the chains of darkness around the door to light were weakening.

His attention flew to the door to light before he flew over to it taking both keyblades and pointing them towards the door watching the light shooting out of them into the door to light. The door clicked and started to open, fighting against the dark confines trapping it. He could hear the beast behind him, but he focused his attention on the spell, taking both blades and bringing them down slamming them into the chains of darkness and cutting through them, the door flinging itself open.

Instantly, the room was filled with a bright light that made Sora have to close his eyes. He heard the monster roar behind him and turned looking through squinted eyes to see that the monster was dissipating, the light making it disappear. As the beast started to vanish, the ice from around the room started to melt, water dripping down on Sora even as he felt himself being lowered down to the ground. He could feel that surge of energy disappearing from his body, a soft gasp escaping from his lips as he fell to his knees being surrounded by the warmth of the light.

This was what they were looking for. This was what he and Roxas had come to set free. He glanced over towards where Roxas was, noticing that the other was getting to his knees too, eyes glancing around before they settled on Sora. With a smile, Sora waved to him weakly, feeling drained from using so much energy. It was obvious that Roxas was tired too, the other crawling over to where he was before he collapsed lying there beside him.

"I think…we did it," Roxas said softly lying on his stomach and looking over towards the door of light feeling the brilliance for himself, his eyes closing. Sora couldn't help laughing slightly as rolled onto his back staring up at the ceiling, a drop of water falling and landing on his forehead before he closed his eyes. This light…could it really help bring Riku back to him? He needed to find out…some kind of way. "We should head back now," Roxas said standing to his feet slowly. He reached down a hand to Sora as the other opened his eyes and looked up at him before reaching up grabbing the hand. "You still need to save Riku, right?"

"Right…" Sora said smiling as he was pulled up, feeling more confident than he had when he'd first came down here. The pain he'd felt from being slammed into the wall was gone, leaving no evidence that he'd even been hurt in the battle. This light…could do a lot of things…a lot of good things. Why would anyone want to lock it away like that? "Yeah, I'm going to bring Riku back. And…and maybe we can help Axel too." Roxas frowned slightly at that starting to protest but Sora was quick to interrupt him. "He's just stuck in the same situation as Riku…the darkness is controlling him. Maybe that's what's wrong with all of them…maybe they just need to see the light."

"Maybe…" Roxas said before he sighed. "I do kind of miss having him around."

"Yeah, I know," Sora said closing his eyes for a second as he rested his hand on his chest. "For some reason…when that white like surrounded me…it was like I could feel what you felt."

"I know," Roxas said frowning again now as he rested a hand over his own heart. "For some reason…I could see through your eyes…like I was you…I don't know what that was…."

"Maybe we can ask Merlin or maybe Cloud if we get a chance to talk to him. Right now let's go make sure everyone's ok."

"Alright…" The two of them made their way to the steps, Sora pausing for a moment and looking back towards the door to light before he went on up the steps feeling like maybe everything would be ok now.

* * *

"Superior." Saix stopped just inside the Superior's room as he bowed his head down slightly. "We weren't able to make it in time to stop the keybladers."

"No matter," Xemnas said not sounding bothered by that fact. "Our own prince is already on his way to the door to darkness. It'll only be a matter of time before the door is opened. Then there won't be anything that can stop us."

"That does sound promising," Saix said glancing off to the side. "But there is something…odd about the kingdom that the door to darkness is hidden at."

"Yes…that is why I will be sending the rest of you there. The others have already gone. Just make sure nothing happens to the prince until he's opened the door."

"Yes, Superior." Another bow, and the blue haired male disappeared into darkness leaving his Superior alone with a smirk on his lips.

TBC…

And that's the end of that chapter! I was going to have more happen but then I was like ...I'm lazy. So yeah! Hehe yay for Leon and Cloud finally kissing! Though I'll be honest, they almost didn't want to stop... Anyways, hope you look forward to the next chapter, whenever that is.


	24. Princely Garbs 24

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Took forever, thanks work, but it's done! And got updated...still learning this format

Princely Garbs 24

The swaying of the ship must have been what woke Cloud up as he sat up rubbing at his eyes. He tried to remember what had happened, then blushed remembering the kiss…several kisses that Leon had given him. Had they really…w-what had that been? The lack of a body in the bed with him made him wonder if he was dreaming or just making it up. It didn't stop the tingling in the pit of his stomach though that happened whenever he thought about Leon. He had a lot of unanswered questions…a lot of confusion most of which was surrounding Leon. He hadn't pushed Leon away when he got the kiss…kisses…instead he'd been quick to respond to them. Did that mean he…?

_Maybe I should talk to him._

He took note seeing that his Buster Sword was leaning up against the bed beside him, not even letting it register in his mind as he got out of the bed. He started for the door, wondering why the ship was swaying before he remembered that they were supposed to be heading to Kingdom Hearts to get the people to safety and check on Sora and Roxas. Leon must be up in the front with Cid. Cloud felt his cheeks heat up as he thought about seeing Leon again. Why did he have to feel so…giddy about it?

Opening the door, he stepped out, some of the people looking up when he came out before going back to their conversation. They actually looked a lot better than they had originally after all of this. Maybe they were looking forward to being able to stay someplace safe. He saw Seifer looking towards him, leaning up against the wall with his arms folded and gave him a nod of his head before receiving one in return. He never did have a problem with Seifer…but he never could figure out the reason for why Seifer felt he needed to compete with Leon every once in a while. They were both good at fighting…so he knew he could rely on Seifer if he needed to.

"Glad to see you weren't being an idiot too," Seifer said as he was starting to walk by.

Cloud blinked in confusion before he stopped and turned looking at him frowning slightly. "What are you talking about?"

It was Seifer's turn to frown. "You mean Leon didn't tell you?"

Something in the words made Cloud's body freeze up as he stared at Seifer. "Tell me what?"

Seifer scowled as he glanced away trying to look like he didn't care, though there was worry in his eyes. "That idiot decided to stay behind at that crazy cas-hey!"

Cloud didn't give him a chance to finish as he bolted off heading for the pilot seat, the blood in his body going cold as he saw only the yellow head of the Highwind pilot. At the noise behind him, Cid turned his head, the cig poking out of his mouth as he looked at Cloud. "Looks like you finally woke up."

"Cid," Cloud said swallowing as he got closer, the tightness in his stomach not making him feel good. "Where's…Leon?"

Cid didn't say anything right away, his eyes taking in Cloud's panicked form before he turned forward in the sit continuing to fly. "Said he wanted to stay behind and find out what Sephiroth was up to. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't listen to me. Just told me to keep flying and get everyone to safety."

"We have to go back!" Cloud yelled out grabbing Cid's shoulder. "We can't leave him there! It's too dangerous!" The words replayed in his mind as he remembered the worried look Leon had given him as he told him it was dangerous…that he didn't want to lose him. Now Cloud knew how he felt…he didn't want to lose Leon…he'd come close to losing him once; he didn't want it to happen again!

"If we go back, we'll only be putting everyone in danger!" Cid yelled back eyeing him again seeing the defeated look on Cloud's face. "However, there might be a way."

At those words, Cloud felt there was some hope as he gripped hold of Cid's arm tightly. "Tell me! What can I do? I can't just stay here while he's getting hurt!"

Cid hesitated for a moment before he sighed shaking his head. "Leon's going to kill me for this one." He pushed a button on the steering wheel putting the plane on autopilot as he stood up from the chair looking down at Cloud. "I told Leon I'd take you back to Kingdom Hearts no matter what, but with you looking at me like that, I guess I don't have a choice." Cid started to walk off, and Cloud blinked in confusion before he got up following him. When Cid told him he'd need his sword, they stopped by the room giving Cloud time to get it before they kept moving going far into the back of the ship where the mechanics that made the ship run were.

"You'll just have to use this baby to get back to him," Cid said as he stopped by the miniature plane that was hidden in the hanger part of the ship. Cloud stared at it, not quite sure if he could even fly the thing. But he was determined to try as he climbed up into the cockpit looking down at the buttons. "Shouldn't be hard to fly," Cid said grinning like an idiot. "I made it foolproof enough that even a baby could fly it."

Cloud nodded looking at the green go button then at the steering before he looked down at Cid smiling as his eyes softened. "Thank you."

"Jeez," Cid said rubbing behind his head though his cheeks did redden. "The two of you are like big babies. Anyway," he moved heading over to the door before he stopped beside it. "Don't do anything until you see the hanger open. Once it's open push that green button and you're off. Got it?"

"Got it," Cloud said finding the pilot helmet and slipping in on his head.

"Good." Cid opened the door looking back at him and giving him thumbs up. "Good luck. We'll come back for you as soon as we can so don't go dying on us, you got that?" At Cloud's nod, Cid went into the room closing the door behind him. It was quiet for a moment, Cid obviously preparing to open the hanger. It gave Cloud time to think about everything. Leon had used his tiredness to sneak out; otherwise Cloud was sure he'd have woken up at the movement. Had he really been that exhausted? He didn't want to think about what would have happened had he went back himself. He especially didn't want to think about what might be happening to Leon right now.

As the door started to open, he got himself ready; putting on the seat belt Cid had installed before he hunkered down feeling adrenaline rushing through his body. This felt exciting…if extremely dangerous. He wasn't even sure if Cid had even tried this thing out. What if he hadn't? Well, if that were the case he'd end up plunging to his dead. But dying was out of the question, especially when he had so much to live for. That's right…he had to live, for Leon…and the others.

As soon as the door was opened, he pushed the button, the plane not even giving him a chance to get prepared as the boosters kicked on and he shot out of the ship, going so fast he felt himself being pushed back into the seat. At this speed, he knew he'd make it back in no time. He just hoped Leon would hold out for him.

_I'm coming for you, Leon._

* * *

As Leon was walking through the dark hallway, he felt bad that he had to leave Cloud behind. But he didn't want to take the chance of the other getting hurt; despite the both of them being skilled soldiers. He'd learned now what that gnawing feeling was at his heart, and he wanted to preserve it. He just didn't want to take the chance that Cloud might get hurt or even killed. In fact, he hadn't wanted to leave at all, but he knew Cloud was right. They still had to see what Sephiroth was up to and put a stop to it.

He'd discarded the red suit, but only after he'd knocked the guard out that was standing by the ship. After that, whatever risk he took, he knew it wouldn't hurt the others. He was lucky the guard appeared to be normal and didn't suspect the attack, otherwise he might have been in trouble. But now, it was easier for him to carry his gunblade and move through the halls going as quietly as he could.

He felt like something was pulling at him, something that made him uncomfortable as he followed the feeling. The darkness spreading on his chest was being affected by something. It didn't take long for him to see where it was he was being taken. He found himself being taken out into the garden, remembering that Cloud had seemed pretty worried about this area. He hadn't had the chance to ask the other about it, but he had a feeling he was about to find out now.

As he moved quietly, he thought he saw a figure up ahead standing near the big tree at the center of the garden. Silently, he moved forward, taking shelter behind a berry bush before peeking around it, his eyes going wide at what he saw. It was Riku…or at least what used to be him. He'd remembered Merlin mentioning what had happened…but to see it with his own eyes…. He knew there was no way he could bring himself to hurt the prince, human or not. The dark Riku looked around like a wild animal before he walked up to the tree.

He wasn't sure what happened or why he saw the darkness forming around the tree, but it made him wince as he quickly held his chest with both his arms feeling pain radiating through his body. Despite the pain though, he continued to watch, needing to see what it was Riku was up to. When he saw the keyblade appearing in the boy's hand, he knew it had to be nothing good. There looked to be a door in front of the prince…one that reminded him of the door at Kingdom Hearts inside the king's chamber. No…could it be this was…?

_The Door to Darkness?_

He never knew one could exist, but here it was right in front of him. And if he was reading into this right, Riku was about to open the door. Leon stood up then, preparing to go over and stop it somehow, but it was like as soon as he stood up he froze feeling the presence behind him.

"Dude, it's him again."

"He's still alive and in control of his body. I'm impressed." Turning quickly, Leon swung out expecting to hit a body only to find his weapon being blocked by a long spear. The man holding the spear actually seemed to give a smirk before he used it pushing Leon back making him fall to the ground. "But the darkness has weakened him."

"That's cool. The darkness will take over soon anyway," Xigbar said, grinning as he walked up stomping down on Leon's stomach causing him to spit up blood. "Then he'll just be another one of our pawns." The grin didn't leave his lips as he pushed his foot down causing Leon discomfort as it became harder to breath.

"Whatever, just don't kill him."

"Like you'd let me," Xigbar said, his foot coming down on Leon's throat pushing down slightly. "Course even if he did die, we've got a lot of new toys to play with." Leon managed to reach up a hand pushing at the foot, feeling weak being so near to darkness. It was like the darkness in his own body was responding. Just how much time did he have left? Even if he did save Riku, there was no way he'd be able to get him out of here safely. Not without either the Organization or Sephiroth finding him first. "Dude, give it up. You won't be able to fight it forever."

"He may be good enough to join the Organization…he is already strong…the darkness can only make him stronger." Kneeling down, Xaldin grabbed Leon's neck from underneath Xigbar's foot and pulled him up holding him and ignoring the choking sounds coming from the brunet's throat as he tried to pull the hands away. "Let his body be soaked in darkness so he becomes one with us."

It was almost like those words were what was needed to open the Door to Darkness as the black keyblade Riku was holding glittered for a moment before a dark beam shot out into the door, the ground shaking before the door started to open. He felt his eyes widen, seeing billions of yellow glowing eyes staring at him before the darkness poured out spreading everywhere even flying into the sky. Whatever they were, some of them came straight to him, brushing against his skin leaving a cold chilled before disappearing inside him. His eyes went wide, his body twitching growing cold as the feeling of darkness keep entering him, feeding on him…making the darkness inside of him grow. Before long, the only thing he could feel was emptiness.

* * *

Panting tiredly, the two boys of Kingdom Hearts finally made it back up the steps. It was obvious that things had changed for the better, the feel in the air feeling a lot fresher than it had before. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like things would be ok for Kingdom Hearts now. Even if it was in a disheveled state, Sora couldn't help feeling proud of his home. He glanced at Roxas, noticing how calm the other seemed and smiled to himself. Not only that, but he had his brother with him, something he never even knew he had before. His family…along with Riku and the others. The people closest to him, the people he wanted to protect.

He wanted to know more about the brother he never knew. He wanted to show Roxas all the fun things he and his friends do when they're bored. He wanted them to become like…real family. If he thought about it, he didn't know anything about Roxas. Did he like anything? Did he even have the time to enjoy anything at all? What about Axel? How long had they known each other? Was it possible that Roxas maybe felt for Axel what he himself felt for Riku?

_Riku…_

"Oh I see you're back now."

Stopping inside the room, Sora blinked looking at Merlin then smiling happy to see that everyone was ok. Or at least it seemed that way. Despite Kairi's attitude earlier, she was pretty quiet now sitting off to the side obviously lost in her own thoughts. Something must have happened…or maybe she was just worried about Riku like he was. He knew there was some way to save Riku. There had to be!

"We opened the door," Roxas said frowning. "For some reason something had locked it up with a spell. Not only that, but there was a huge monster of darkness down there too. I find it strange that it was here at all."

"That is strange," Merlin said frowning and pulling at his long beard. "The darkness should never have been emitted inside in the first place…but if somehow someone had gotten in and managed to close the Door to Light, which is supposed to be impossible, then…that would explain what happened all those years ago."

"But then who could have even locked it at all?" Sora asked, curious now about how the Door to Light got sealed in the first place. Didn't Merlin say only the keybladers could even get down to the door?

"Who indeed," Merlin said frowning as he looked towards the door. "Well, looks like we have a few guest here."

"Hmm?" Sora blinked and looked at Roxas who looked just as confused as he was. "Someone's here? How do you know that?"

"I put a spell up while you guys were gone to alert me if anyone decided to make their way in. But now, with the Door to Light open, we shouldn't have to worry about the darkness coming this far."

Frowning, Merlin stepped out of the room as he went into the hallway. "Now the question is, who could that be?" He stopped where he was and Sora blinked coming out to see what it was he was looking at.

"Sora!"

"Huh? Selphie! Wakka! Tidus!" So happy to see his friends, he rushed over, the four of them hugging tightly and laughing finally starting to lose the stress of everything that had happened so far. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Cid brought us here!" Selphie said smiling happily. "He brought everyone...or well..." She quieted then growing sad. "Almost everyone...."

"There were some problems at the palace...a lot of people died." Tidus frowned glancing back seeing Seifer heading in their direction and lowered his voice. "And I think Cloud and Leon went back....Cloud was panicking when we were on the ship...."

"Back to where?"

"We went to stay at King Sephiroth's place for a while...but for some reason things were really weird there. So we left to come here. I think Cloud and Leon are investigating something."

"Oh and..." Selphie looked down sadly as she tapped her fingers together. "King Ansem died...we're not sure how it happened but...."

Sora felt his body go cold at that. No...so much had happened while he'd been here. As if Riku needed to go through losing another family member. It was all the more reason for him to protect Kairi the best way he could. Not just Kairi, but the rest of their friends too. "I have to go save Cloud and Leon." He frowned looking down, ignoring the look the others were passing him. "I have a feeling something bad is about to happen. I have to go to Sephiroth's castle."

"Then I'm glad I didn't have to smack any sense into you," Seifer said stopping by them and folding his arms. Despite their differences in the past, it seemed a lot had happened to change Seifer during all of this. Or maybe he'd always been like this. Maybe nothing changed at all. Then maybe it was Sora who had done the changing.

_I don't feel different though...I just want to protect everyone._

"You guys should get going soon," Seifer continued gesturing behind him. Don't worry about this place, just leave the protecting to us. Right now Cloud and Leon need you more than we do."

"That's right!" Tidus said standing beside Seifer, not noticing the slightly annoyed look Seifer gave him. "We'll protect everyone here, meanwhile you bring both Leon and Cloud back, alive!"

Sora looked down for a moment before he glanced back receiving a nod from Merlin and Roxas. He looked back at Seifer with determination in his eyes. "Alright. I'll go save Cloud and Leon...and Riku too."

"I'll go with you," Roxas said stopping beside him giving him a nod. "I at least know how the Organization works, just in case they show up."

"Ok then." A grin broke out on Sora's face as he pumped his fist into the air. "Yeah, let's go save everyone and bring them back safe!"

* * *

Cloud panted as he kept swinging the sword moving closer and closer towards the garden. He knew he'd had a bad feeling about the place, but not that feeling was getting even worse. If Leon was anywhere, he'd probably be there. The soldiers he'd been worried about before were really moving now, swinging their swords and coming at him from all sides. Where they hadn't been all that hostile when they'd first came, they were really fighting him now, no questions asked. If he had though he was worried about them, he was right. It was taking all of his concentration just to keep from getting hit. It wasn't so bad when he first started out, but now he was getting worn down by them. If this kept up, they'd eventually land a hit and then...

Another came from behind, Cloud just turning around in time to block the attack. But just as he blocked it, another one came around the first one, the sword hitting home as he cut right into his side.

"AHH!" Screaming out in pain, Cloud used his body pushing forward as he cut into the two of them before falling to a knee panting and holding his side, feeling the warmth soaking into his glove. This wasn't good. He wasn't going to be able to save Leon like this. And he knew if he was having trouble with these guys, Leon would be having some trouble too. He pushed to his feet swaying slightly at the blood loss before he felt someone behind him and turned to swinging only to start falling forward instead. Warm arms surrounded him as he panted starting to fight against the arms feeling dizzy.

"Cloud, calm down, it's me." Wait...that voice...could it be? Looking up, Cloud found himself staring up at the one good eye belonging to Auron. It was a bit overwhelming finding the person he'd thought dead staring down at him now. His cheeks heated up slightly as he let himself be held. In the past, had Auron not disappeared, he would have found himself falling in love with him. But now...with Leon there...things were different. Leon was...really special to him. Which was why he was going through so much just to save him.

"You shouldn't have come back here," Auron said gently rubbing his back taking advantage of the empty hall to help calm Cloud down. "We need to tend to that wound of yours."

"...I need to get to Leon," Cloud said slowly pushing away from Auron as he stood, swaying slightly from the lightheadedness.

Auron frowned at that. "You won't be any good to him in this state, you know that. Let me help you." Cloud hesitated for a moment looking down and frowning in thought. True, injured like this he wasn't any good to Leon. But who was to say Leon wasn't going through the same thing right now? "I'll make a deal with you," Auron said causing Cloud to look up at him. "You let me tend to your wound...and I'll go find Leon for you. Does this work for you?"

Again Cloud hesitated, knowing that Leon wasn't too fond of Auron...but right now he didn't have much choice. He wanted Leon back alive, not dead because he couldn't save him. "Alright...but make it quick."

Auron nodded and started to move forward. At first Cloud thought he was just going to help him walk, but when he felt himself being picked up in big arms his eyes went wide as a blush reached his cheeks. "W-wait, I can walk!"

"You won't get far walking," Auron said keeping a firm hold on him. "Just relax for now. We'll move faster this way." Cloud nodded, but he was sure the blush on his cheeks didn't leave. If he weren't so small.... But he wasn't that small, he was the same height as Leon anyway.

Auron took him down the hallway, only having to fight off a couple of soldiers before he made it to the infirmary and sat Cloud down on the bed. He didn't give Cloud a chance to speak as he grabbed some bandages before reaching down pulling Cloud's shirt over his head. If he thought he was blushing before, he was really blushing now. He wasn't used to others seeing him like this, even if he was a guy. He was surprised he even let Leon see this much...surprised he even changed in the same room with Leon, twice. But now...the situation was different since he was being treated. Then why was the gentle touch of Auron's fingers on his skin making him feel hot?

"Looks like it cut pretty deep," Auron said oblivious to what his fingers were doing as he rested them on Cloud's back and tummy to keep him from moving. "But it's nothing too serious. I'll just clean it and bandage it up until we can find a healer." Cloud just blushed and nodded keeping his head turned away. It wasn't that blood and guts bothered his much. He'd seen enough of it to be used to it. But when it came to his own injuries...it was...different. He winced when he felt the alcohol poured on his cut, holding the bedding tightly until it calmed down and the bandage was wrapped around him. Stitching would probably help him out better, but he knew there was no time for that. All they could do was bandage him up real good and hope for the best.

"That will do for now," Auron said before placing his hands on Cloud's chest pushing him back on the bed. "For now though, just rest for a bit." Cloud blushed staring up at him and gave a nod. Despite the nod, he knew he wouldn't do it. He was sure that as soon as Auron was out of sight, he'd leave to go find Leon. But at least he didn't feel completely dizzy. His eyes closed tiredly, figuring a little rest couldn't hurt first though, completely missing the look in Auron's eye or the soft feeling on his lips as he fell asleep breathing softly.

TBC....

Hehe looks like Leon has a challenger...sorry updates took so long this time...had a lot of late, long work nights and then my bro's visiting so yeah. And of course he's no yaoi fan so...yeah typing around him? Not a good idea. Anyways, hope you liked the update. I was going to make this chapter longer but well...yeah. And stuff!


	25. Princely Garbs 25

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Sorry it took so long again, I got lazy.....and the format changed again.

Princely Garbs 25

What were Leon and Cloud thinking?! To go back to such a dangerous place all by themselves?! Why hadn't they waited until everyone was together then come up with a plan?!

"Stay calm," Roxas said from beside him, even resting a cool hand over his brother's. Right, he couldn't let this get the best of him. They couldn't change the past, all they could do was move on and do their best to save the others. Still...what was going on back at Sephiroth's castle to make the two of them even go there? He'd heard most of everything from Cid from how Leon has left to how Cloud went back to save him. From the description that Cid gave him about the soldiers there, Sora seriously doubted that the two of them could handle all of them by themselves.

_No matter how much confidence I have in them, there's just no way...._

"How much longer, Cid?" Sora asked, sitting beside Cid in the cockpit growing more restless the more time passed.

"Shouldn't be all that much further now," Cid said, biting on the end of the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He was obviously worried about this whole thing himself, considering he hadn't even lit the smoking stick at all. "I'm a little worried about letting you two go alone like this, but if you two really are the princes of Kingdom Hearts, then you might really be our best bet right now."

"Yeah, that's true," Roxas said folding his arms not trying to sound cocky. "But we can't forget that we're up against all of the Organization, not to mention we're no where near Kingdom Hearts right now."

"Besides that," Sora said looking straight ahead out the window. "If the Door to Darkness really is there...then it'd only get more dangerous if it ended up opening."

Roxas nodded in response to that. "Let's just do what we can to hurry and stop that from happening then."

"You're right," Sora said glancing at his twin brother and smiling. "We can do this. We have to do this." It wasn't just a matter of saving Riku anymore, it was to save everyone. Of course Riku was an important part of it to him, but if he didn't stop the door from opening, he could only imagine there would be even more chaos in the world. Everything would probably end up being like Kingdom Hearts...and he didn't want to lose his home anymore...or any more of his friends and family.

"Hey...Roxas?" Sora said in a questioning tone, waiting until the other was looking at him before he continued, a little frown on his lips. "What are the Organization exactly? I mean like...how did it start?"

"Well...the whole thing started with the three originals. I'm not sure about the full details since Axel only told me so much about it. A lot of the history is hidden with Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus, Vexen, and Zexion. Specifically Xemnas. He started the whole thing, tampering and researching with the darkness and the light, drawing the other five to work with him. At some point, the darkness must have invaded their hearts and made them the way they are now. After that, Xigbar was sent out to start recruiting more people to become part of the darkness, I guess based on their spiritual strength. If they could handle the darkness then they would be brought there." Roxas paused for a moment before continuing. "Though not everyone was able to adapt very well."

"Really?" Sora asked, looking like a curious child though he felt skeptical about hearing the rest. There was something about the way Roxas...ended that sentence. "Then...what happened to the people that can't...adapt well to the darkness?"

Roxas looked at him and frowned, getting far too serious for Sora's taste. "They either become swallowed up by the darkness and disappear or...become something even worse...."

"Even worse?" He was worried now, about Riku...and about Leon and Cloud. "And...what is that something worse?"

"Remember that creature we saw back at Kingdom Hearts? The ice creature? Well...that's an example of what happens."

"So then....."

Roxas nodded seeing the understanding finally shining in Sora's eyes. "That's right. They become monsters, incapable of thought. With Riku, there's a hope. He was able to keep his form so it won't be long before he obtains a sense of awareness. Whether that's good or not is another thing...he may become your enemy."

"I see..."

"But in the case of someone whose body isn't strong enough to handle the darkness...he becomes a monster, a beast. He won't remember friends nor will he know what those are."

"Leon..." He couldn't explain it but hearing those words...an image of Leon popped to mind. Was he ok? He did suffer some injuries before. But Cloud was with him...so he had to be ok...both of them did. "Cid, let's hurry. I don't think we have much time left."

"Going as fast as I can, kid," Cid said smoking the cig, having listened to the whole conversation. "You don't need to be worrying about those two," Cid said looking back at them and grinning. "Hell, the last thing you have to worry about is those two giving up, even the prince won't give up that easily." He hesitated a moment looking at the two princes before blowing out a puff of smoke. "Well the prince of Radiant Garden anyway. Not that I'm saying the two of you wouldn't do the same." At the blank looks he got he shook his head grumbling loudly. "Aww hell, I don't know what I'm saying. Anyway, hold on tight! We're getting close now! I ain't gonna be able to land this baby since Sephiroth's probably aiming to take down anything that comes near here!"

"Then how in the world are we supposed to get down there?!" Sora asked. At that, Cid put the plane on autopilot and got up going towards the back. The two brothers looked at each other in confusion for a moment before focusing their attention back on Cid when he returned.

"...What are those?" Roxas asked.

"These are Protective Airship Release Apparatus Controlled Under Terrifying Emergencies. Or a parachute for short."

"Uh...ok," Roxas said staring at the things. "And what do we do with these...parachutes."

"You'll be using the Protective Airship Release Apparatus Controlled Under Terrifying Emergencies to jump from the ship."

_What?!_

"Are you insane, Cid!" Sora yelled out staring at him in shock. "You're trying to get us killed before we even get there!"

"Trust me," Cid said grinning like a big kid with a new toy. "The Protective Airship Release Apparatus Controlled Under Terrifying Emergencies, a.k.a. the parachute won't fail. I've been testing it out with BZ."

"...What's a BZ?"

"The bug zapper I created in Radiant Garden." He took the cig from his lips smothering it against the side of the wall beside him as he looked up at the ceiling. "Riku apparently thought it would be a good enough name for him. Though I've modified it to kill those dark suckers now. Guess it's not much of a bug zapper anymore. I'll be sending that little baby with ya. It should help protect ya against the darkness if they try to sneak up on yas."

_Riku...._

"Ok... teach me how to use it then."

"Are you insane, Sora?!" Roxas said snapping his head towards him quickly like he'd lost his mind. "There's no way that'll work!"

"Well we have to do something!" Sora yelled back. "Even if it's a just little chance!"

"You'll be small enough that even Sephiroth wouldn't notice ya. Just like a little bug," Cid said still having that grin on his face. "Trust me, it won't fail."

Looking between Sora and Cid, Roxas sighed finally giving up as he leaned back on the chair. "Ok...so how do you use the protective appara-thingy."

"The parachute."

"Whatever," Roxas said giving a small glare. "Just show us how to use it so we can be done with this!"

"Fine fine, I'll teach ya everything ya need to know."

* * *

_Why am I still here?_

_...._

_That's right....I need to......save Leon......_

Still, even that thought didn't stop the pain in his side from throbbing. Sitting up carefully, he shook his head giving himself a moment to recollect himself. That's right, he'd been trying to save Leon when Auron.....what was it that Auron had done? He was starting to remember it now. He'd been trying to go to the garden when Auron had found him. After having his wound treated, he must have fallen asleep during that time. He remembered Auron saying that he'd go save Leon for him...but that wasn't something Cloud was going to be able to wait on. He needed to see for himself that Leon was safe and sound.

Quietly, he went over to the door resting his ear against it listening out to make sure it was still clear outside. So far everything was quiet, which could have been either a good thing or a bad thing. He winced holding his side seeing some of the blood seeping through the bandage. Though he'd been treated, it wasn't like he was fully healed yet. He took a moment to get his shirt and sword, grateful that Auron hadn't taken it, before taking his chance and slipping out of the infirmary room. There wasn't a soul in sight, a good thing since with the glowing of his eyes, he was sure he'd have been seen in an instance. With the injury on his body right now, he was better off not getting into any fights if he could avoid it. The last thing he needed was to pass out due to blood loss.

He moved quickly, rushing down the hallway, holding his sword in his one hand and he free hand to the wound at his side. He knew where it was he was going. He was heading back to that garden, to the place where he was certain everything would begin. He knew the Door to Darkness was out there, and for some reason he had a feeling that everything would start with it. What was Sephiroth's goal was? He still wasn't sure; but he doubted it was anything good.

_Leon...you better be ok......._

He stopped near the garden, a feeling passing over his body that made him want to fall in despair. This feeling, the strong amount of darkness...had the door been opened?

"I had a feeling you wouldn't sit still." Cloud turned before thinking, his sword coming up to be blocked once again by the very person that had blocked it the first time.

"A-Auron," Cloud said staring in a daze before he stumbled slightly, being caught in Auron's arms.

"You're still weak," Auron said, though the sound in his voice made it sound less harsh as a statement. "I told you I'd save him for you. You need to rest."

"I know that," Cloud said frowning and pulling away. "But this is something I have to do. I want to save him with my own two hands. Then after that I..."

"...." Auron frowned too seeing that Cloud obviously wasn't going to be going along with this easily. And how could he anyway? The man that kissed him once....or maybe more than once, was in danger of being killed. That was not something Cloud felt he could go through again. Despite that he tried to tell himself it was cause they were comrades, he knew deep down that there had to and was something more to it. He found that Leon was...important to him...and not just as a teammate. Besides that, he had a lot of questions he still needed answers to. Like why had Leon kissed him?

"Auron...sorry but...." Cloud turned running off quickly not giving Auron the time to think about what was happening. He hated to admit it but his head was swimming from all the movement he was doing. He wouldn't be of any help to Leon like this, but at least he'd get to see him again even if it did end up to be this once. Besides that, what ever was going on inside the garden, it wasn't good. So he kept running, heading to the place he knew the Door to Darkness was, hearing the movement behind him to know that Auron was closing in behind him. Why was Auron being so desperate to keep him away? And for that matter, what was it that Sephiroth had tried to convince him into doing?

He was about to keep going before he skidded to a halt seeing four figures up ahead and quickly going into hiding. By the fact that he looked behind him and didn't see Auron, he could only assume the other had done the same. Frowning he looked over the bushes he was hiding behind, seeing the two figures that had been the ones to hurt Leon before. With all that was going on, he realized he'd never had the chance to ask Leon how his injury was doing. But by now, the wound must have been-

_Wait...is that Riku?_

Sure enough, standing by the Door to Darkness was Riku. He had his eyes closed, a dark keyblade in his hand which he had pointed towards the door. Already the door was opening, darkness spilling out which must have been why that bad feeling had crossed over Cloud earlier. The darkness was starting to take shape into all kinds of creatures, only making Cloud worry more about what was happening. Another creature caught his eye before he full out stared at it seeing the yellow eyes staring at him, the darkness starting to invade the tiny garden.

_Leon?_

Sure enough, it was Leon...or what was left of his original self anyway. He was turning his head this way and that obviously looking something before looking back at him again, starting to come over. This wasn't good, for several reasons. Cloud was having a hard time finding the energy to run, not to mention that he was about out of energy anyway with all the blood loss. Leon was changed into a creature of the dark, meaning the chances of getting through to him were low. And on top of that, he was heading this way meaning that soon Cloud's position would be exposed. But maybe...if he drew Leon away then.....he'd have a chance to try to bring him back.

_I have to try...._

He stood up, ignoring the pain in his side or the way his vision was swimming as he started to back up keeping his eyes on Leon. However, his plan was stopped short as he bumped into something and looked back seeing Auron behind him. Wait...what was he doing here now?

"Cloud...I'm sorry..." He took both of Cloud's arms holding them behind his back and used a leg slipping it between Cloud's to lock his position in place, not that Cloud could even move with all the shock holding him down. What was Auron doing?!

"Looks like we have a new toy," Xigbar said walking over and grinning like a fool. "Good job, dude."

"My name is not dude," Auron said frowning and holding Cloud tighter. "And as agreed, he's not to be turned into one of those things. He will stay here with me and King Sephiroth and work under us."

"Auron?" Cloud asked looking up at him in confusion. He wasn't acknowledged, Auron keeping his face away as he looked at Xigbar and Xaldin. What did he mean by work under then? He'd never agreed to that! And Leon...Leon's wasn't looking at him anymore, his eyes looking at the Door to Darkness.

"True," Xigbar said grinning still as he leaned down bringing his face close to Cloud's as if he were inspecting a specimen of some type. "Though I really think we should take him anyway."

"Xigbar."

"Dude, chill out," the one eyed male said looking back at his partner who, to Cloud, was equally as dark if not darker. "I'm not going to do anything." It was almost like Cloud could hear the "yet" placed silently at the end of that sentence. Though right now, his own mind was already in a jumble. Why was Auron holding him back like this? What sort of 'deal' had Auron and these bastards struck? And why was it he felt like his heart was shattering the longer he saw Leon like this? He'd seen this sort of thing before. It wasn't the normal type of Heartless that he was used to seeing, but rather a rarer one he wished he could forget about from his past. There were...several things he wished he could forget back then.

"Strange," said a voice back from behind Xigbar, Cloud's head lifting up at the familiar voice. "I'd had rather he become one of us."

Cloud's body tensed up as he saw the young boy he'd taken care of since he was little staring down at him, a lack of expression in those emotionless yellow eyes though the sadist grin seemed to stand out in the darkness. "Riku?"

"It took me a moment to surface," Riku said looking down at his hand, not bothered in the least by all the darkness flowing around him, flowing from the keyblade he held loosely in his hand. Despite the lack of darkness covering his pale skin, the feeling of emptiness flowing from him was enough to let Cloud know that he'd become one of them. "You should considering going to the dark side. It really fits your taste."

The blond opened his mouth to speak, but felt the words freezing up in his throat as he stared up at Riku before his eyes trailed over landing on Leon's dark face and glowing eyes. "Leon...." He tried to reach out to him, but with his arms confined, all he gave was an effortless push. He was still far too weak to fight back, being that his wound was opened and his blood was sliding down his side again. Why was this becoming so hard? Why was everything turning out like this?! He'd lost both his comrade and his prince to the darkness! Yet once again he was spared just like last time...... He could remember it now, all that happened when the king of Kingdom Hearts had been killed.....everything was starting to repeat itself but with a new cast.

_It's happening all over again...just like last time..._

"Don't worry," Riku said staring at Cloud and smirking. "I'll take good care of him for you, while spreading darkness around the world. It'll be just like Christmas...a happy time for everyone."

"Riku!" Cloud yelled out managing to pull away only to fall down to his knees. "Don't do this! What about Sora?! What about your kingdom?!"

"My kingdom is dead...," Riku said, an almost sad look coming across his face before looking at Cloud again. "Or had you forgotten?"

Cloud's eyes widened at that, remembering the run down halls, the carcasses and smell of the dead who had been left behind leaving only a few survivors. He was right...he was right that the kingdom had been destroyed. Cloud couldn't lie about something like that. But how had Riku found out? "That's-"

"Don't make excuses," Riku said, his voice sounding livid for a moment before he went back to a deadpan. "You were never there to protect me, only Sora. You used our kingdom to protect your precious prince for your own selfish gain so you wouldn't feel like the weakling that you really are. You tried to make Sora a king to remake his kingdom, so you wouldn't have to feel the guilt of failing the people who trusted you most. And because of that now Sora's....." He went silent at that, apparently lost in his own thought for a moment, something Cloud took note of. If it was possible Riku was still feeling emotional about this, then maybe...it wasn't too late to stop the effects of the darkness...maybe for both him and Leon. But...it was going to be useless if he didn't even have the light to help him.

"You're wrong," Cloud said panting slightly, feeling his vision sway as he stood up, Auron holding him by the shoulders even though he had no strength to push the man away. "At first I did start out using your kingdom to get close to Sora...but the longer I stayed there, the more I found myself wanting to protect that kingdom too, along with the people there. " He sighed giving a cough as he looked at Riku again. "Sora's out looking for you right now. You have no idea how worried he's been about you. He's been wanting to see you ever since you were taken away."

"Sora's dead," Riku said, the lack of emotion appearing in his dark eyes before he turned walking off. "And I'll make sure the world suffers for it."

"Riku, wait!" He couldn't stop Riku from leaving as the smaller male disappeared into the Door to Darkness. Why wouldn't he listen? What made him think that Sora was dead?! What sort of lies had the Nobodies told him?! He tried to think about these things, but the blood loss was making him become more and more delusional. For a moment...he saw Leon reach for him...for a moment he thought he saw Sora and Roxas appear behind him, and for a moment he thought he'd managed too utter a few words before he lost all consciousness.

_Save...Riku...and...Leon...please...Sora...Roxas...you have to...save...them...._

TBC....

Yay, I predict not so good things happening next time...or maybe good things. I don't really know yet.


	26. Princely Garbs 26

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?Seifer frowned folding his arms over his chest. He'd kept his agreement to Leon to make sure that everyone made it safely to the Highwind. But that didn't mean that he had to stay there himself. Not that it made a difference. Without Merlin there to help power the ship, there was nothing more they could do to even get moving.

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Writer's block is a bad block....and if there's something wonky about the text or format just shoot me an email. :grunts: For some reason the editing of this kept changing the format and moving text from the top all the way to the bottom, so let's just hope it's ok now.

Princely Garbs 26

"Are you ready, Sora?" Roxas asked after feeling the ship slow down. He looked over at Sora noticing how worried he looked and couldn't help smiling seeing the other as the younger brother. Though he was surprised to see the other wasn't jumping up and down in excitement. Then again, who would doing something so suicidal as jumping out of a weird contraption way up in the air and hoping that these...parachute things worked.

"I have to be ready," Sora said not looking at Roxas as he stared at the door swallowing. "I've got a lot of people I have to save."

"Well...just do what Cid told us earlier and we'll be fine." Yeah they'd had quite the run down on what to do by the, oh so great airship pilot. The conversation had went something like....

_"Ok the first order of business is how to jump out of here!" Cid yelled making sure the two boys could hear him over the sound of the engine. "I'm only going to give you ten seconds to jump out before I need to start moving again! When I stop, you open up this door here and jump out!"_

_Cid yelled pointing to the door he was standing beside with a thumb, his cig sticking out from the corner of his mouth. Though he hadn't lit it yet, it was obvious that he would soon, probably as soon as they got off the ship._

_"Don't pull on those strings right after you get out! In fact, give it about maybe a count of ten or twenty before pulling it! You don't want to do it too far up but you don't want to wait until the last minute and end up crashing into the ground and breaking every bone in your body!_

_"Once you've pulled the string it'll be easy sailing after that! Just use your body to help guide you to where you want to go! Try not to get yourself in a bad situation down there! Oh and if you don't think you can land on your feet just roll instead! Besides, if you go down too fast you could end up crushing your legs! Just keep all this in mind and you'll do just fine."_

"Fine he says," Roxas mumbled earning himself a nod of agreement. This was just lunacy. How had he been convinced to even do this?! He was just learning to live his life and already he was putting it on the line to do something stupid like this. But then he also wanted to know more about his past...and he wanted to make up for the way he'd treated Sora. He should have known all along that Xemnas had been reading him lies. That was just part of his nature. And probably had Axel not been around him listening to his ranting and raving, sticking to his side then...who knows where he'd be right now.

__

...Axel....

He frowned and shook his head from that thought, deciding not to think about that right now as he felt the ship finally stop. "Looks like it's time."

"Mm," came the soft sound from Sora as he looked at the door opening it with trembling hands. At least Roxas wasn't the only nervous one here. After the door was opened, Sora stood there in front of it for a moment before he turned looking at Roxas. "...I can't do it."

"Are you kidding me?!" Roxas yelled out ignoring how the other flinched. "We don't have time, you have to jump."  
"No way! Cid's trying to get us killed! There's no way we can survive from this fall!"

"Well you're not going to know until you try!"

"By then we'll be flat like pancakes on the ground!"

"Fine, then I'll do it!" Roxas said pushing Sora to the side...and after seeing the long long loooong way down, he finally understood. "You're right...this is suicide." Did Cid really think they were going to be able to make a fall like that? "Ok so let's just come up with another way to-" Time must have run out at that moment cause before he could finish that statement, the ship started up flying, his body being thrown off balance as he started to fall. Eyes going wide, he did the first thing that came to mind in this kind of situation...he grabbed hold of Sora's arm causing the two of them to go tumbling out of the ship.

At first, he thought the yelling he was hearing as they were falling was coming from Sora, but after a while he realized it wasn't just Sora that was screaming. He was pushing out a rather like racket himself. No wait, he had to calm down. There were still the parachutes on their backs. "Sora," Roxas yelled as loudly as he could to get the other's attention. "Sora, we have to pull the strings!"

"There's no way!" Sora yelled back, eyes clenched shut. "You know those things won't work! Cid's inventions don't always come out working!"

"I'd rather take my chances on it working than dying now!" Roxas yelled putting his hand on the pull cord. "Ok, on the count of three, let's give it a try!" Sora looked at him and nodded reaching down and resting his hand on his own cord. "Ok...one....two...three!" The two of them pulled, what looked like a white sheet shooting from the packs on their backs, temporarily pulling them away from each other as it shot up over their heads slowing down their descend. Roxas stared up at the white sheet with wide eyes, surprised it didn't just explode or something before he turned those surprised eyes on Sora, receiving the same look in return. "It...it worked," he said holding onto the rope. "It really worked!"

"Yeah!" Sora yelled back smiling. "Now all we have to do is save Leon and Cloud and leave all this mess behind us." At least that's how they had planned for things to happen before they looked down frowning seeing the darkness that was frowning below them. "What is that?"

"The darkness," Roxas said remembering the chilling feel it used to give his body. "And a lot of it. Something big must have happened down there."

"That means Leon and Cloud might be in trouble!" Sora yelled out looking at Roxas. "We need to hurry!"

* * *

They landed a lot easier than Sora thought they would. Though the bad part of it was that they had landed right into the mist of all the darkness. Not only that, Leon's body was covered in darkness and he was apparently reaching for Cloud...though whether to help or to hurt him was unsure as Auron had been quick to use his foot and kick Leon down.

"Leon!" Sora started to move forward but paused as his eyes came into contact with Cloud's, seeing the words moving on his lips before he fell unconscious.

"Cloud!" He started to move forward then but Roxas moved faster diving and tackling Sora to the ground, just as the gunblade went right where his head had been. "Watch out!"

Roxas quickly scrambled to his feet as he used his keyblade to block the next attack, his eyes scowling as he used all his strength to push back against Leon. "Sora, you need to go find Riku!" Sora got to his feet looking a lot more alert now seeing that Leon had been the one to attack them. Not that it was really Leon anymore. "He said he wanted us to save Riku and Leon. And right now I agree with him. We need to find a way to pull them from the darkness!"

"But..."

"He'll be ok for now!" Roxas yelled out gritting his teeth as he pushed back again. "I don't think that guy's going to hurt him, so just concentrate on saving Riku while I work at getting Leon back!"

"Riku...."

"He's...." he paused in what he was saying, his feet sliding before he got his baring back. "He's inside the Door to Darkness. Just...hurry! Before something else happens!" Sora bit his lips starting to take a step forward. "Go! I'll be fine," Roxas said looking over at him and smiling. "Trust me. I'll bring Leon back then we can go save Cloud. Just take care of Riku. You got that?"

Sora looked into his brother's eyes before giving a determined nod and running off glancing back at them. "You better both come out alive or I won't forgive you!"

"Don't worry...we'll be just fine," Roxas said uses all his strength to push Leon back from him before jumping back himself. That was the last Sora saw before he took a deep breath rushing into the Door to Darkness. Stopping wasn't an option right now. In fact, he knew if he stopped he'd never be able to keep going. So he kept going, running deeper and deeper into the darkness until he couldn't see any more light, searching for the lost friend he'd only recently showed his true heart.

"You won't win..."

Sora stopped, frozen where he was recognizing the voice. "R-Riku...?" He glanced around finding himself in a long dark hallway, the glow from his keyblade acting as a flashlight for him. It helped him a little against the feeling of despair that wanted to devour him, but it sure didn't make him feel any more comfortable. Everything, all the darkness around him seemed to move like he was in the belly of a beast. Or maybe he was...what if the Door to Darkness was a living breathing being intent on eating everyone on the planet?

"Don't say my name as if you know me, imposter."

"Riku, it's me! It's Sora!" He felt a clenching in his chest at the harsh words. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Sora is dead..." Riku said into the darkness sounding like he was behind Sora. The young keyblader turned quickly but there was nothing there, nothing he could see anyway. "Do you really think I wouldn't know him? I've known him almost all my life...my best friend...and I won't let some stupid imposter try to confuse me."

"But Riku!"

"But since you really want to be like him so much...how about a game of tag? It's our favorite game after all...stuck in hiding...trying to escape...never knowing where the enemy will come from." Again the voice seemed to come from somewhere behind him and Sora turned around, feeling a bit freaked out right now.

"Riku...Riku this isn't funny..."

"You better start running if you don't want to be caught." In a panic, Sora turned running when he heard the sound of footsteps. He wasn't sure why, but he just felt like this wasn't Riku. This wasn't the kind hearted, playful, shy Riku that he knew. This was a monster...a monster that was manipulating Riku into doing bad things. "Does it feel like old times, imposter?" The voice said, footsteps coming from another direction. Was this even Riku at all chasing him? "It definitely feels like old times to me!" Maniacal laughter echoed in the darkness surrounding Sora eating away from him. He needed to keep running, something deep inside him telling him he'd be killed if he didn't. At the same time, he needed to find Riku to show him that he was still alive.

"Riku! Please don't do this! I..."

"You make it sound like you're going to confess your love to me," Riku said...a hurt feeling in his voice. "I had my doubts about Sora's true feelings. It seemed to me that he smiled most around Kairi...and the others." Deep down, Sora thought he heard it, heard Riku's voice saying that he felt he wasn't good enough.... "If I had been stronger...maybe he'd still be alive..." There was a pause. "If he was alive I wouldn't be forced with having to fight you...no...there is no more suffering now...at least as far as I go...I'll let the rest of the world take my suffering instead."

"Ri-ahh!" He'd felt something hit his leg as he fell down lying there to let the spinning in his head go away. What just happened? As he sat up the footsteps became louder, his eyes traveling up as he saw Riku coming into view staring down at him with dead looking eyes. "I'm getting tired of these fake images of you showing up...it's...aggravating." Depressing.

Sora started to stand but stopped when he felt the tip of Riku's dark keyblade against his neck. "Don't try to lie to me and say you're the real Sora. He's dead."

"But I'm not lying! If you'd just listen!"

"Why listen to lies that don't exist?" Riku said as he kneeled down resting his hand over Sora's necklace. "Why listen to you?"

"Because I am real!" Sora said staring up at him as he took the hand moving it to his chest. "Shouldn't this be proof enough?!" He knew his heart was beating fast and that it probably wasn't just from the running around. "I have a heart! I am alive!"

Riku seemed to hesitate at that before he snatched his hand back. "The heart can be imitated too."

"No it can't!" Sora yelled pulling the hand back to him. "I learned from Roxas that everything living has a heart. It can't just be made or replaced. Sure, I think the darkness can sometimes hide its true strength but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Sora sat up then, noticing the startled look in Riku's eyes feeling like he was able to get him to come back if he kept trying. "Riku...I do love you, more than anything. You're the main reason my heart can beat so fast and so strong right now." He blushed feeling a little embarrassed to be saying this though knowing it had to be done if he wanted to get Riku back. "Riku please just...come back to me...."

"...S....Sora...." He felt the hand trembling and looked up seeing the look of recognition starting to appear in Riku's eyes.

Quickly, he reached up wrapping his arms around him refusing to let go, never wanting to let go. "Riku, just stay with me! Don't let the darkness consume you!"

These was a tenseness in Riku's body before Sora felt the arms coming around hugging him close making him feel warm in such a dark place. "Sora..." He closed his eyes feeling like his body was glowing, like it was erasing all the darkness residing inside of Riku. In a way, maybe it was.

"L-Let's get out of this place." Riku nodded his head standing before he reached down pulling Sora up holding him close like he was afraid of losing him. When Sora looked up at him he was able to see the tears in Riku's eyes knowing that this had hurt him a lot. He knew he'd feel the same had he thought Riku had died. It made him determined to make the Organization pay for what they did. He was going to find the leader and give him a good beating if he could.

* * *

__

Even though I said I'd take care of it...he's a lot stronger when he doesn't have his emotions holding him back.

Roxas frowned jumping back using every reflex he had to keep Leon at bay, blocking and dodging any of the hits he could. He knew that had he been still controlled by the darkness, this wouldn't have been a problem for him. But at this rate, he was bound to get worn down while Leon was still full of energy. How in the world was he supposed to help someone submerged in darkness? No...he couldn't give up now. Sora was counting on him now. The last thing he needed to do was to give up on the only family he had.

__

So then...to fight darkness...I need light....

Roxas glanced down at the keyblade before he nodded his head looking at Leon again. The keyblade was the answer to this problem. Just like how it had worked to unlock the Door to Light, there must be a way to make it open up one's heart. Maybe he needed to aim for the heart...but he couldn't just kill Leon.

__

Think Roxas, when you pointed your keyblade at the door, it had unlocked...

Could that work for Leon too? He needed a chance to try it out...even for a second....so then...yes that'll work.

Roxas looked at Leon and moved forward kicking him in the chest before he flipped back from him giving himself enough space as he pointed his keyblade towards the fallen Leon. He was taking a chance and hoping that the keyblade would respond. But if it didn't, he was going to be severely screwed, or so that thought ran through his mind as he saw Leon starting to rush towards him, gunblade at the ready.

"Come on, you stupid thing, work!" Roxas yelled at the keyblade baring his teeth as he saw Leon coming closer. He tried shaking it but to no avail. And just when he thought he wasn't going to be able to do it, just as he moved out of the way jumping backwards and hoping Leon wasn't fast enough to turn and slash at him; a bright light flowed from his body traveling down into the keyblade and shooting out hitting Leon right in the chest and freezing him on the spot.

The gunblade master stared at him with dark emotionless eyes before a look of confusion started to fill them. He could see the darkness around the older male starting to dissipate, obviously angered by the light that was starting to spread throughout Leon's body. And just like that, Leon fell to his knees collapsing on the ground, the glow starting to vanish for him. He coughed like he'd been choking on water, his hands clenching into the grass as Roxas moved slowly starting to walk towards him. He kept his keyblade ready, trying not to take any chances that Leon would try to attack him.

"Leon!" Roxas heard the yell and glanced over seeing Sora and Riku starting to run over. Seeing the vibrate look in Riku's eyes, it was safe to say that Sora had succeeded too. Now the only problem left was....

"W-where....am I?" Leon asked softly, frowning as he stood up holding a hand to his head. "Cloud..." The words were mumbled softly, Leon's body swaying probably still trying to adjust from the lack of darkness so suddenly.

"So you do remember some things huh?" Roxas said holding up his hand, the keyblade vanishing from it.

"Where did they take him?" Leon asked, frowning as he looked down at Roxas, holding the gunblade in his hand. "I'm going to bring him back."

"Leon, you can't!" Sora yelled out rushing over to them, Riku on his tail. "You should rest!"

"I can't," Leon said, his voice calm even though his hand was clenched tightly at his side. "I have to...." He shook his head before looking over at Sora, then back behind him seeing Riku, some of his tension leaving. "The three of you should head back."

"What, and let you get turned into that monster again?" Riku frowned and walked over. "For once, I think that was the stupidest thing you've ever said. Right now, all of us should be working to help save Cloud."

"He's right," Roxas said glancing at Sora and smiling slightly. "We don't know what we're up against, but the more we have on our side the better. Both Leon and Riku are pretty good at using swords and even Sora's useful when it comes to using the light." He smirked slightly at the puffed cheeks Sora gave him. Ah...so it was this sort of thing that he'd been missing when he was part of the Organization. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...with the four of us together, we shouldn't have a problem with saving Cloud...if we hurry."

"Fine," Leon said, though the look in his eyes seemed to say that he was proud of them. "But if things get dangerous, I want you all to leave as fast as possible. Agreed?" The three teens glanced at each other, frowning for a moment before they all looked at Leon and nodded. "Alright....then let's go save Cloud."

TBC....

Wah, that took longer than I thought! I kinda had a brain fart and...ended up deleting about half of it just to figure out where I wanted to go. Mmm.....it's kind of a short chapter but I hope it'll be enjoyable to you!


	27. Princely Garbs 27

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, fantasy, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Ok...a year's a little too long. X.x I wasn't wanting it to go out this long but besides procrastination, I got hit pretty hard with writer's block again. In fact this chapter got scrapped several times before I finally got it close to what I want before I scrapped half of that and redid that and...never ending cycle much? Anyways, here it is!

Princely Garbs 27

"Mmm..."

His head was swimming and there was a dull ache in his side. Frowning, Cloud fought against the darkness he was stuck inside forcing himself to wake up. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like something urgent was calling to him, demanding his immediate attention. There was someone very important to him that he needed to save.

_Leon..._

Eyes shooting up, Cloud sat up quickly, maybe a little too quickly as he found himself wincing in pain and quickly grabbing at his side. He didn't meet the resistance of the shirt that should have been there and frowned looking down seeing layers of fresh bandages wrapped around his stomach. A quick glance around showed that he was indeed back inside the infirmary, no person in sight. So who brought him here? Wait...that's right...

"Auron..."

As if the words were a secret code, a small folded piece of paper fell from off the table nearby landing in the middle of the floor taunting Cloud to come to it. The taunts must have paid off because before he knew it, Cloud was up and moving walking over to the paper, his hand carefully holding at his tender side. He took care when he kneeled down to grab the paper not wanting to rip open his wound again - at least that's what he assumed must have happened - and unfolded the paper starting to read it.

_Cloud: _

_It is possible that I will be gone by the time you awaken to read this. Right now, this is a fairly safe location for you. Please be patient and wait. Help will come._

_-Auron._

_P.S. I am sorry._

"Sorry?" Cloud frowned finding his eyes narrowing down in a glare as he stared at the paper in his hands remembering all too well how Leon had changed in front of him, and how Auron had done everything to stop Cloud from saving him. "..." He crunched the paper in his hand, fist trembling before he let the paper fall and looked towards the door, a look of determination in his eyes. "Leon..."

It wasn't too late...for all he knew, Auron was going back to finish the job. It could be that only five minutes had passed during the time that Cloud had been bandaged and that he'd be able to get there to stop him. Only there was one problem...his sword was nowhere in sight. Had Auron taken it with him? Well...Cloud was a Soldier under both Kingdom Hearts and Radiant Garden, and a strong one at that. He could easily use something else to chop his way through to the older male. The problem was...Auron was definitely a match for him.

"Hey you ok in there?" A light voice said on the other side of the door, sounding vaguely familiar to him. He frowned surprised someone knew he was in there, especially someone that was worried about his safety. Still, to be on the safe side, Cloud decided to stay quiet in the hopes that maybe it was just his imagination. He saw his shirt hanging on the rack by the door and quickly grabbed it slipping it on.

"Auron told me to come get you. Hold on, I'll unlock the door."

_He locked the door too?_

A quick click and the door eased open, a smiling face staring at him that sent him in a defensive stance grabbing the nearest thing to him for a weapon which happened to be the coat rack.

"Whoa whoa whoa! I'm not the enemy! I'm not the enemy!" Two hands were held up to block the impeding beating even though Cloud hadn't bothered to move yet. He could still handle himself even if he didn't have his sword on him. It hadn't been just his sword skills that had made him second in command at Radiant Garden. But right now, he needed to focus, especially with the male staring at him with innocent eyes even though he'd been a part of the raid on their kingdom that had cost a lot of people their lives.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud said staring at him still being watchful knowing that the other male could pose danger to him, similar to their fight earlier before Auron had came to rescue him. With the way things were going now, though, he had a feeling Auron wasn't going to be coming back to help him this time.

"Don't be so scared!" the young male by the name of Demyx said pouting slightly as he looked at Cloud. "I'm on your side. Me and Auron have been working on this plan from the very beginning."

"Auron and I," Cloud corrected before he frowned and shook his head, determined not to fall for the innocent guy act. He wasn't in a very trusting mood at the moment, especially after finding out that Auron had betrayed him. "Anyway, explain this plan you're talking about."

"Well you see it's like this." Demyx started resting a finger against his chin. "It all started when-"

"Speed it up," Cloud grumbled holding the rack tighter in his hands. Was this guy a moron or what?

"Honestly, you do realize I control water right?" Demyx said, a wicked look entering his eyes. "I could easily make all the water in your body boil and explode with the snap of my fingers." When Cloud suddenly threatened to attack him he quickly held up both his hands again, the wicked look disappearing. "But I'm not going to because I'm on your side! Don't you get it?"

"Then stop stalling and get to the point!" Cloud threatened getting tired of these games.

"Look, Auron and I had to do this to make the others thing we were on their side. It's not like we wanted to but if we hadn't, everyone would be dead right now!"

"...What do you mean everyone?" Cloud asked frowning not liking where this was going.

"Because Organization XIII and Sephiroth would have went to Radiant Garden a long time ago and killed Sora. Then no one could close the Door to Darkness."

Cloud frowned. The Door to Darkness...was it still open? No, it couldn't be. There wasn't nearly as much darkness roaming around like it had earlier.

"Look," Demyx said starting to sound impatient. "Don't you want to save Leon? We're wasting time here! Come on!"

The other turned and left before Cloud even had a chance to respond. He frowned but followed after him, agreeing at least with the fact that they didn't have time. He needed to get to Leon and try to free his heart from the darkness. He refused to think about the fact that without Sora or Roxas there, that would be completely useless. Not only that, but he needed to save Prince Riku as well. Or...had Sora and Roxas been there? For some reason, he couldn't focus to remember that point. It'd felt like a dream...yeah...maybe it had been a dream...at least he wished it to be if Leon really had changed into that heartless.

* * *

"Where is Cloud?"

At the sound of the commander's voice, Auron turned around eyeing Leon up and down before turning back to the big door in front of him as if Leon's presence was nothing more than the buzz of a fly.

"Don't ignore me!" Leon yelled out pulling his sword and getting ready to run after him only being stopped by the other three standing behind him holding him back.

"Wait Leon!" Sora yelled out almost losing his grip on Leon's leg.

"Don't try to stop me," Leon grounded out glaring straight ahead at Auron's back, the grip on his gunblade tightening. "I'll kill him."

"If you kill him, we'll lose our only lead to Cloud!" Roxas added holding onto Leon's arm the best he could. After all, Leon wasn't weak despite how skinny he was. "If that happens we'll never find him in time."

Though the glare hadn't lifted from his eyes, Leon did start to calm down keeping his eyes on Auron. The only thing he could remember before the darkness took over was Auron holding Cloud back. There was no telling what the sick bastard must have done to the younger blond. That was all the more reason why Leon wasn't functioning like he normally would. Usually, he'd be pretty calm taking in everything and deciding the best solution for everything. Now...he was angry, flustered, and caught in a sense of urgency and panic.

"If you are worried about Cloud," Auron said turning around casually pulling his sword free from his side, "don't be. He is hidden in a safe place."

"...What makes you think I can trust you?"

"Leon, stay calm," Riku warned though he was also giving Auron a hard look. After all, Cloud was his second in command and close friend. He learned a lot from the quiet male much like how Leon had learned how important Cloud was to him. "The only way we'll get anything out of him is to stay calm." Leon frowned but gave a nod, admonishing himself mentally for having a kid he'd taught to always stay calm teaching him in return.

"We both want to protect the same person," Auron continued, drawing Leon's attention back to him. "However, it is too late for me now. But I will not hand him over until I'm certain you are worthy of protecting him."

At those words, Leon pulled himself free and looked back at the three of them staring at him with wide, surprised eyes. "Stay back," he commanded before he took off holding his sword ready aiming for Auron. "This will be quick."

"Give it everything you've got," Auron said, a slight smirk lifting to his lips as he raised an arm holding the sword angled over his head in a defensive stance.

"Leon!"

Leon didn't hear the yell, eyes focused on Auron as he took the sword to the side aiming for an opening.

"Too gullible," Auron spoke the sword coming down easily and slamming into the end of Leon's blade proving his strength as he sent the sword flying out of Leon's hand to slide across the floor leaving Leon sitting on his butt in a daze. With a shake of his head, Leon started to get up but froze on the spot when he felt the chilled metal pressed against the side of his neck. "I thought you were a soldier."

"Don't talk like you know everything," Leon grounded out staring up at Auron coldly. At the spoken words, the cloth of Auron's left sleeve split open showing the skin underneath where the cut had been made. Admittedly, Auron lifted a brow before he chuckled lightly, though he didn't move the sword. "We definitely would have gotten along had we met earlier in life."

"..."

"Leon!" The three younger boys started to run to them, but Auron just gave them a look freezing them on the spot.

"Don't move or else he really will get hurt." The boys glared at him but they didn't move or say anything else. Finally, feeling that they were going to listen, he looked down at Leon, his eyes softening.

"...I need you to look after Cloud, Squall."

Leon looked up quickly frowning hearing his old name. How was it that someone like Auron even knew of that name, someone he'd never seen before now. "...How do you..."

"I was quite familiar with King Ansem. In fact we were old friends. I was also the one who brought Cloud to Radiant Garden."

"...What?" He apparently wasn't the only one surprised. When he looked back the other three were looking at them in as much confusion as Leon himself felt. No, that couldn't be right. Granted he couldn't really remember the details of Cloud showing up...he was sure the king would have told him about this.

"I will explain," Auron said looking down on Leon, still keeping the sword close not even getting a little defenseless at all the talking. "But only after you promise to continue looking after Cloud once you find out the truth." Nothing further was said, the decision obviously up to Leon now. Of course he'd protect Cloud. He was the second in command not to mention the only link that Sora had to his past. There was no way he'd take that away. Not only that, but he still had these feelings he had inside that he needed answers to, that he needed to answer. He'd kissed Cloud, more than once even. But he'd never told Cloud the reason why, he was sure Cloud needed to know...and now after everything that'd happened, he wanted to at least tell Cloud the reason why before anything bad could happen. But why was it that Auron was asking this of him? What exactly did the truth hold? Was Auron afraid that he'd abandon Cloud after everything they'd been through?

Finally, the other gave a nod of his head before Auron decided to continue. "Very well, I will tell you about that day," Auron said finally pulling the sword back and sheathing it after seeing that Leon wasn't planning to attack him. He gestured for Riku and the others to come closer, smiling at how cautious they were being, Riku being especially protective of the two younger males. Even Roxas was being protective of Sora, being that he had far more fighting experience than his twin sibling.

"I will start with the day of the attack...the day I got back to Kingdom Hearts after receiving a little hint from King Sephiroth that there would be a dangerous battle there.

(FLASHBACK)

"King Tsunami! Cloud!" By the time Auron had made it back to Kingdom Hearts after his investigation into King Sephiroth, things were already bad. The king had been stabbed...by the one person Auron had next suspected. As Cloud held up the sword with the king penterated on it, he looked back at Auron, a blank look in his eyes before he slung the sword down sending the king flying across the room crashing into a bookcase that fell over on top of him.

The initial shock passed as Auron started to pull his sword out, still not being fast enough as two of the guards that had been with him ran past him running to attack Cloud. He didn't even have the chance to yell at them to stop before, with quick ease, Cloud swung the sword cutting the two bodies in half leaving no thought that they were alive anymore. When...when did Cloud get that strong? He'd never been that strong or that fast in the past. Had the one month that Auron been gone changed the young blond that much?

As he saw Cloud turning and starting to head to the queen and prince huddled in the corner, Auron took the initiative and run towards him with the sword ready.  
"Don't!"

Cloud moved like he was flowing in water turning smoothly and blocking the attack before lifting a foot and kicking it into Auron's chest sending him flying back. Cloud wasn't this strong before, Auron thought feeling the pain in his back from where he'd collided with the wall. What was going on with him? What happened to change him so much so quickly?

"My queen!" A soldier yelled from the door making Auron look up just in time to see her picked up by her neck and stabbed right into the heart. He saw the light in her eyes fade away as her body went limp before Cloud dropped her and looked down at the prince. Auron knew he had to move, getting to his feet as he started towards him. If he couldn't protect anyone else, he at least needed to protect the prince. As he got closer, a beam of white light shot past him hitting into Cloud freezing him on the spot and making him yell out.

Auron's eyes went wide recognizing the light and looked back at the source finding the king standing there holding his side and panting hard, one eye closed and covered in blood though he was making sure to keep a hold on the keyblade in his hand.

"Auron," the king panted out looking at him. "Take Sora...and...get him out...of here..." Quickly, Auron went to the prince and grabbed him, pausing just long enough to look up into Cloud's blank eyes, frowning before he went over to the bed and grabbed a blanket quickly wrapping the prince up in it before he looked at the soldier.

"You," Auron said calling the soldier over. Quickly but carefully, he deposited the small prince into the soldiers arms, ignoring the confused look the other gave him. "Get the prince as far away as possible."

"But what about-"

"Hurry and get the prince to safety now!"

"Yes sir!" The soldier quickly ran out. Auron turned to the king quickly seeing him fall to his knees before he ran over.

"Tsunami!"

"I'm fine..." King Tsunami said, though it was obvious he wasn't considering the extent of his wound. "Right now...we have to...save Cloud. The darkness...inside him...is taking over."

"Darkness? How did Cloud end up like that?"

"While you were...gone...Sephiroth..." the king didn't finish the sentence coughing up blood but he wouldn't stop the light from shooting into Cloud's stiff body. Auron still felt himself freeze up at the sound of Sephiroth's name. That was the person he'd been busy trying to investigate. Had Sephiroth known he'd left and taken that time to enter the palace? What did he do to Cloud?

King Tsunami lowered his arm, the light dimming on Cloud before the other's eyes closed and he fell to his knees passed out.

"That should...hold him...until you can...get help," the king mumbled starting to fall forward and being caught by Auron.

"Save your strength," Auron said holding him steady. "We'll get you a healer and-"

"It's too late...for me." The king smiled one of his goofy little smiles before he looked over at Cloud's body on the floor. "He's safe...for now...but he needs...help. Someone...at...Radiant Garden...can..." he felt his eyes closing tiredly and swallowed looking up at Auron. "Take Cloud...and escape...the darkness...is already...attacking the...city."

"But-"

"The queen...needs me," King Tsunami said glancing over to his dead wife lying on the ground, arm slung out almost as if she as reaching out to him. "Just...leave me here...and...take care of...my boys...and Cloud...for me."

"..." Auron didn't know what to say, there was nothing he could say. All he could do was stand taking the king over to where the queen was and lying him down beside her. Leaving his king to die alone...he felt worthless. He saw the king smiling over at them then close his eyes as if he were concentrating. "Wait...what are you doing! No, don't!"

"Goodbye." Auron felt his body collapse as they were surrounded by an explosion of light. He could hear the screams of the heartless as they were killed by the sudden blast of light then he heard nothing. It was silent, apparently the beasts either killed or escaping. All he knew was that when he looked over to where the king and queen were, he saw blank eyes staring at him obviously not seeing anymore. He wasn't sure where the yell came from, but it was all he could do to keep from tearing anything apart. He had failed...how had this happened?

He looked over seeing the blond lying there before walking over. Sephiroth had played them all for fools. Not only had he caused the death of both his king and queen, he'd even manipulated the life of his best friend. Carefully, Auron picked Cloud up and carried him over to the bed lying him down. He spent the better part of the next two days burying the dead in the courtyard behind palace. Not once did a single person or heartless show up. Cloud didn't wake up either, almost appearing to be in a permanent slumber. There was no sign of the prince's body, a good sign that he was probably still alive. However, he did find the body of the soldier who he'd entrusted Sora to in the stable. By the looks of the hoof prints leaving the stable house, someone must have taken one of the horses. His only hope was that it had the prince with it and that he was still alive.

(END FLASHBACK)

"I took Cloud to Radiant Garden, and had Aerith to patch him up. After telling her what happened she was able to put a block on whatever darkness had taken over when Cloud had been alive. During that visit, I asked Merlin to replace any memories Cloud had of that night with something else. I also, by a stroke of luck ran into Sora while there. He didn't seem to recognize me, telling that he must have forgotten everything about that night. I didn't let that bother me, instead using it in my favor and I talked the king into letting Cloud stay there before taking off towards Hallow Bastion to take care of Sephiroth.

"Apparently, if I could kill Sephiroth, the spell could be broken. But instead of killing him, I was killed myself thanks to a special technique created by Sephiroth. However, somehow he was able to keep my soul in this body and even kept the body alive." Auron reached under his shirt and pulled out a small necklace that was the same of an hourglass. Already, the top was almost empty. "This is what's keeping me alive, that and the fact that he's letting me live." The four stared at the hour glass on his chest but he shook his head putting it away. "As you can see I don't have much time left. You'll have to defeat both Sephiroth, Xenmas, and the Organization members before we can even think about relaxing."

"So...is that how...our parents died?" Sora asked staring with wide eyes surprised he couldn't remember any of that even if he had been little. Even Roxas seemed a little sullen about what happened.

"Please don't think badly of Cloud," Ansem said reaching down and ruffling both of their heads. "At the time he was under Sephiroth's control...he had no idea and was left with the memory that the heartless had been the ones to kill them both and destroy Kingdom Hearts."

"I know," Sora said before he stood up and stretched the others looking at him as he summoned the keyblade. "We just have to take care of Sephiroth, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Roxas said smiling as he stood too. "And not just him, but Xenmas too. Those two together probably conspired this whole thing!"

"I'm in agreement," Riku joined in also standing to his feet. "I won't forgive them for doing this to Cloud or destroying my home."

"Auron," Leon said getting the other's attention while the younger boys were busy giving each other pep talks. "Can you take us to where Cloud is?"

"Hey, there's no need for that!" A voice yelled from the door. "I've got him right here, see?"

"Cloud!"

"Demyx?" While there was happiness at seeing the blond again, the male with the funny hair ended up putting everyone on edge.

"Oh come on, I'm not the enemy!"

"I don't recall that being the case," Auron said frowning as he glared at the Organization member. "Aren't you supposed to be locked up?"

"...Hahahahaha! Ok ok, you got me!" Demyx laughed then grinned elbowed Cloud hitting him in his sore spot sending him buckling down from the pain before his water clones came out surrounding Cloud.

"Cloud!"

Cloud started to get up but found himself unable to even more, his body stiff from a tight pressure. "So you all better stay put or else I'll make his body explode from the inside." Demyx smiled happily as he saw the others staying where they were. "Good good. Now, put down your weapons and no one gets hurt." Slowly, everyone through their weapons down, glaring at the man standing in front of them holding Cloud hostage with nothing more than the water inside his body. "Now then...just stay put until the Organization comes, ok?"

TBC...

And I'll end this chapter here. Wow it's been forevers. Anyways, I'm thinking of making a prequel of this, maybe not a long one but more like little stories of what happened before Princely Garbs involving Sora's dad, Leon's past, little Sora, and...well...more. If I do it, I'll probably write all the chapters out first before posting them so it doesn't take forever for me to post a new chap. X.X so if you do like this idea, just shoot me a comment.


	28. Princely Garbs 28

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, fantasy, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Finished! Not a year this time! Computer crashing not fun! x.x

Princely Garbs 28

"Now then...just stay put until the Organization comes, ok?"

"Damn it." Roxas heard from behind him and glancing back to see Leon glaring at Auron as he said, "I thought you said he was in a safe place." The thought came to mind that maybe they had been tricked by the one eyed male, but by the swirl of confusion in Auron's eye, he had no idea what was going on either. All they knew was that Cloud was face down on the ground in front of them when he should have been tucked away safely somewhere.

"He was," Auron said frowning as well as he looked at the group of them standing there in the center of the antechamber, the final door leading to Sephiroth's room being blocked by Demyx's as he held Cloud hostage. "The only person that would have known about it would be..."

"Me!" A familiar voice said, making Roxas turning his head quickly before freezing in place. The red head smirked as he appeared from the darkness behind Demyx sending a spurt of anger rushing out of Roxas as he started to run towards them doing very similar to Leon's actions earlier.

"Wait, they still have Cloud!" Sora yelled out quickly grabbing Roxas's arm and drawing him back to keep him from giving Demyx exactly what he wanted, an excuse to kill Cloud. The bastard even had the nerve to stick his tongue out at him as if he were trying to taunt him into coming towards them.

"Tsk." He forced himself to relax, but the look in his eyes was probably hot enough to match even Axel's heated fires. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Taking care of business for the organization," was the reply he got from the named Axel, the smug smirk on his lips frustrating Roxas even more.

"Wait..."Roxas heard from Riku behind him, almost forgetting about the others there, his attention stuck on Axel as much as he hated to admit that fact. "Wasn't he..."

"A lot happened," Sora answered before the question was fully out reminding Roxas that Riku hadn't really been in his right mind when it all happened. In fact, it was around that time that Riku had been changed into one with the darkness. "You see...Axel he..."

"He betrayed us," Roxas said simply as he glared at Axel again still feeling the pain of when Axel had completely led them astray. "And I hope he keels over and dies."

"Gee, love you too Roxas." Despite the words, Axel was grinning at him like mad. But something in his eyes made Roxas hesitate before he shook his head getting himself back on focus. What had that look been? He didn't remember seeing it but for that brief moment he felt like he'd said something wrong. Wait, why should he feel wrong? He wasn't the one who betrayed his friends. "Now then...why don't you come on over, Roxas? If you do that, we may just let Cloud go."

"Roxas...don't..."

Clenching his hands at his side, Roxas stared at Axel trying to read more in his eyes, but seeing nothing else. Axel was also good at hiding things...what was he up to? He didn't trust him one bit. "Fine...but you better be telling the truth." Not that he expected the truth, but he was hoping they'd at least leave Cloud and the others alone.

"As true as it will get," Axel said in return before he winked an eye at him.

Roxas hesitated at that, his cheeks reddening slightly.

_What was that?_

Frowning, Roxas started to walk over to where Axel was. He was moving taking it slow not wanting to set Demyx off on doing something to Cloud. Despite what he'd heard from Auron about what Cloud did at Kingdom Hearts, he didn't want him to be hurt. Especially since one of his father's last wishes was for Cloud to be helped. Was it possible that he could become like that again though? It worried him.

"I'm here," Roxas said stopping in front of Axel glaring up at him. "Now let him go."

"Mmmm I changed my mind," Axel said, Roxas only able to look up at him with wide eyes before he found himself turned around and his arms trapped behind his back. "Thanks for giving me another prisoner. I'm sure the Organization will be very proud of the catch."

"Roxas!"

"Hey, no fair!" Demyx said giving a pout despite the flash of enjoyment in his eyes. "I wanted to be the one to get him."

"Fat chance on that happening," Axel said pulling Roxas closer to him, his lips brushing against Roxas's ear sending a spark of something tingly through his body. "He's mine." Roxas started to struggle, trying to get away from Axel but then something was whispered in his ear, something that made him go still, his body trembling at the words.

_"Trust me."_

What in the world was going on? Trust him? After everything he did? But for some reason...Roxas found himself nodding slightly and leaning back into him. Only struggling a little as he tried to process in his mind what was happening. Was Axel...planning something? No, he had to be an enemy right? But why ask Roxas to trust him? Maybe he was trying to get him to let his guard down. But it was something in the voice, in the way Axel said it that made Roxas think that maybe it was true. But could he really trust him again?

He didn't really get the chance to answer that question as the door opened up behind Sora and the others and Xemnas made his way through, followed by the other Organization XIII members. Frowning, Leon started to reach for his weapon but was caught short as Xigbar used his gun shooting the gunblade away.

"If I were you, I'd stay still," Xigbar said grinning and reloading his gun.

"We've been deceived," Auron said frowning as he watched the group heading towards them and finding himself moving slowly and standing in front of Riku and Sora to try to guard them from the Organization members.

"And it seems that Sephiroth needs a more loyal pet." Xemnas looked at him as he said the words. "I'm sure he will be very displeased with your actions."

"He's well aware of my actions," Auron said smirking even as his arm blinked for a moment before becoming solid again. It made Roxas frown remembering the story they had been told, about how Auron shouldn't even be alive and that the only thing keeping him there was the hourglass Sephiroth had given him.

"So he is," Xemnas said catching what happened and staring at the hourglass necklace. Roxas saw it too, frowning wondering just how much of the sand was left, unable to see it from so far away. Right now, that was Auron's life. He wondered briefly if flipping it upside down would change anything, but he was sure someone like Sephiroth had already planned against it. "Bring the keybladers to me. Once they have been taken care of, there will be nothing to stop the darkness in people's hearts from taking over."

Roxas saw the male with pink hair vanish and appear behind Sora and struggled trying to get loose only to be pulled back against Axel. Maybe he was imagining things, but he was almost sure he felt a heart beat in Axel's chest. He didn't get to think on it long; however, as he saw Marluxia grabbed his younger twin brother from behind taking him hostage.

"Sora!" Riku yelled out, starting to rush to him before a struck of lightning flashed in front of him blocking his way and temporarily blinding him.

"Stay put, unless you want to get hurt," Larxene said, a sadistic grin on her lips as she glared at Riku. "Though I don't mind having an excuse to kill you."

"Excellent work," Xemnas said to Larxene, watching as Luxord took a place to stand by Leon and Auron, his weapon out prepared to kill if any one of them moved.

"Why are you doing this?" Sora yelled out glaring and struggling against Marluxia to no avail.

Xemnas stared at him for a moment before he started to speak. "My heart is filled with darkness," he said giving Sora a look before looking at Roxas only receiving a glare in return. He had a feeling this would be one of those long, boring speeches as he glared at Xemnas wondering what he was planning to do to them and wishing he could do something to stop him. "Eventually, my soul will be gone as well." He shook his head moving closer as he talked. "No, it's no more reason than that I wish to destroy this piteous planet with its meaningless existence."

""Our lives are not meaningless!" Sora yelled sounding more as if he were yelling to convince Xemnas rather than out of anger. "I live life for my friends and family! I live to protect the ones that live and help those that don't want to live find a meaning!"

"You didn't do a very good job of protecting your friend when he turned to the darkness, now did you?" Xemnas said, the words coming out softly despite the impact they had on Sora as he gave him a sly, accusing look. Roxas saw it when it happened, saw Sora tense up and his eyes go wide. He frowned, knowing that Sora was blaming himself for what happened to Riku even though it had been the Organization's doing. "In fact," Xemnas continued, "you did a very bad job of protecting a lot of people, such as those pitiful fools at Radiant Garden...and even the pathetic humans that once lived in your..._precious_ Kingdom Hearts."

Riku glared, starting to move before Larxene ran up grabbing his arms from behind, having a pretty strong grip for a female. "Don't even think about blaming him! If you want to lay blame on someone then blame the right person! I'm the one who did it! As Prince, I should have been there to protect my people!"

"Riku!" Sora yelled out staring at him, obviously wanting to tell him he was wrong but not saying the words from the way Riku was shaking his head and staring at him.

But before Riku had a chance to say anything to him, someone else spoke up. "No, it was me," Leon said glaring at Xemnas, not moving for an obvious reason, Luxord standing behind them with razor sharp cards prepared to penetrate them at the slightest hint of retaliation. "It was my job to protect the royal family and the people." With those words he looked at Riku and his eyes softened. "But I was too weak to do even that."

"Look at the load of them trying to act all goody goody!" Xigbar laughed out drawing Roxas's attention to him. "Want me to finish them off?" He was missing the point...maybe because he didn't have a heart he didn't see it. But Roxas could...honestly everyone was at fault here, including himself. If he hadn't been so blinded by Xemnas's words then he would have seen the truth behind the lie. Instead, he hurt his brother, tried to kill them even! But if he looked deeper...he knew the true blame lied with Sephiroth and Xemnas, with the organization. They had to be stopped.

"Patience," Xemnas commanded. "Let us first have the keybladers brought to us." Finally his eyes turned to Axel. "Bring him."

Roxas tensed up, waiting for the inevitable. He and Sora would be taken by Xemnas, the others would be killed. After that he wasn't sure what would happen to them but he was pretty certain it wouldn't be good. And the worst part of it was...it would be because Axel was the one to turn him in.

_I can't believe this._

"I sure will..." Axel said before something unexpected happened as Axel lifted his hand up, a fireball summoned before it was shot out towards Xemnas. "The day I see you in hell!" Wait...did...did Axel really just...attack Xemnas? In just that short amount of time, a lot of emotions shot through Roxas's body. Axel just attacked Xemnas...Axel was protecting him...Xemnas was going to be defeated... There was hope in that small fireball heading straight for Xemnas...hope that they'd be able to win.

However, that hope was shot to pieces when Vexen easily stepped in front of Xemnas, his shield coming out to block the fireball as easily as if it'd just been a breeze.

"Crap!" Axel said from behind Roxas as he pushed the boy aside holding up both his hands letting out an onslaught of fireballs, each of which were easily blocked by the shield. He cursed again, Roxas pulling his keyblade out prepared to help when suddenly he noticed movement to his side. He looked over just in time to see Axel being hit from behind by Zexion and falling to his knees panting.

"Axel!"

"A valiant effort if not for such a meaningless reason," Xemnas said not even looking the least bit bothered by the whole thing. "Your traitorous actions are of no surprise to me. We were prepared for your retaliation."

"Really now?" Axel said struggling to stand before the back of his legs were kicked and he was brought down to his knees again. Roxas moved to run to him but Axel gave him a look as if saying to stay back. He felt lost, unable to help Axel and yet confused by the sudden change. Had Axel been planning this attack all along? Roxas glanced at Zexion, tempted to attack him before he saw the short male look at him and give a brief nod of his head. Wait...what did that mean?

"You think you know everything, do you?" Axel continued returning his attention to Xemnas, not even noticing the mental struggling Roxas was going through at that moment as he grinned at Xemnas.

"I know when one who has lost the darkness inside of him should not be trusted."

_Wait...so then...Axel really is...?_

"Then I guess you should have been paying more attention to your surroundings." As soon as the words were spoken, Luxord appeared from behind Xemnas, using his ability of time to freeze the enemy's movements. It worked on everyone, except for Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saix who dodged out of the way just in time. "Larxene!" Axel yelled getting the blonde's attention.

"Shut up!" Larxene yelled glaring at him even as she threw up an arm, lightning forming and sparkling over Xemnas's head. "I got it!" The lightning came crashing down blindly over the Organization's head, the flash making it hard to see what was going on.

But Roxas didn't get the chance to see what had happened or if the attack had gotten Xemnas and the others as Axel grabbed his hand and started running pulling Roxas along behind him.

"Axel, what-"

"Get moving guys!" Axel yelled to the others, Roxas glancing back to see Sora and the others following them, looking just as confused as the Organization members who'd been holding them hostage not long ago were working together to attack their former companions. Then, he saw nothing as they turned the corner heading straight for the big doors in front of them, his eyes widening as he saw three familiar figures in front of him.

_It can't be!_

"King Mickey? H-How? Why-"

"No time to explain," the small mouse said, smiling at him, his comrades Donald and Goofy standing in their animal forms beside him guarding him. "First, we need to take care of Sephiroth while we still have the advantage!" That was true but-

"But...what about Xemnas and the Organization?" Sora asked catching up to them, looking just as shocked as Roxas did about seeing the king there, the two of them exchanging identical looks. "We can't just leave them there to fight!" Not that they knew why the other Organization was fighting the Organization.

"Hyuck, leave it to us!" Goofy said, smiling and looking almost as laid back as his human form as he rested his hands behind his head, nose wiggling.

"Yeah, you're talking to professionals here!" Donald added in trying to help boost the confidence by looking tough, though the only thing that did was making Roxas smile feeling like everything was finally going the way it should.

"Thanks guys," Sora said sounding as grateful as Roxas felt, a small smile on his face as well. He looked back at Riku, fussing over him and apparently making sure that the lightning from earlier had hurt him. While that happened, Roxas found himself looking up at Axel, a small feeling of his heat in his cheeks making him looking away at the questioning look Axel gave him.

"You ok?" Leon asked, Roxas looking back to see him staring at Cloud, obviously checking everywhere to make sure he wasn't hurt or missing any limbs.

"Yeah," Cloud said though he glanced away trying to look everywhere but at Leon, even trying to reach for a sword on his back that wasn't there. Leon seemed hesitate and even opened his mouth to say something to him but was cut off by Mickey's next words.

"Ok guys," Mickey said getting everyone's attention as he turned to face the door, keyblade appearing in his hand. He rested his palm against the door, the shining under his touch before it started to shake as it started to open as if inviting them into the final battle. "Let's go finish this!"

TBC...

Wooo, finally done with it. Once again took a while but, luckily not a whole year. Between my laziness, my job, unsatisfied version, and my computer having to be completely reformatted for lack of ever responding to me, I finally finished! This chapter anyway...


	29. Princely Garbs 29

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Axel/Roxas Leon/Cloud more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, fantasy, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Comment: Finished! Not a year this time! Getting harder to write at work with people talking to me nonstop about nothing x.x Ah yes but it is done. I haven't gotten the chance to start the rough draft for the next chapter yet. Playing Birth by Sleep isn't helping that either :whistles:

Princely Garbs 29

It was like he'd been waiting for them. Sephiroth sat on his throne with his legs crossed, an elbow resting on an arm of the large chair. He had his chin resting on the palm of his open hand, looking at them with calm, piercing eyes, his hair looking like a river of platinum over his shoulder. He had something of a lazy grin on his face, watching the group of them as if he'd been expecting them, as if he knew all along that they'd show up. Deep down inside, Sora felt that the statement wasn't far from the truth. For a place that controlled darkness, he expected the room to be pitch black. He didn't expect a room with walls so white they semi blinded him.

Regardless, they had to defeat the man before them. He was the cause of everything that had happened. He was the reason for so much darkness spreading in the world now. He was the reason a lot of people had died. He was the reason that Kingdom Hearts was nothing but a memory in people's hearts. He was the reason...that even King Ansem had died. Of course, Sora didn't know the full details about that except for the shocking statement that Leon had made upon arriving at Kingdom Hearts with the survivors from Radiant Garden.

Leon had made it a point not to say anything further on it, not even looking at Sora as the words were spoken before he had walked away from him. The words had been said to Riku as well. There had been shock on Riku's face after hearing of it, not exactly something Sora had wanted the older boy to know about right after he'd just been brought back from the darkness. But much like Sora himself, Riku would mourn for the dead once everything was over. Right now wasn't the time for tears, not when there was so much they had left to protect with so little time to do it in. That was probably why Leon hadn't gone into further details on the king's death. Maybe later, when this was all done, they would be told what happened by the Commander...maybe then they'd be allowed time to grieve. Now though, they could only stand and fight, to protect their world and the homes they grew to love; to protect their families and friends that were still alive.

_I won't let him beat us!_

"So, you've all come," Sephiroth said not even bothering to move, two of his freakish guards standing beside him, staring at them with those insane, incoherent eyes. "And here I thought you would be too cowardly to try and attack me."

"What right do you have to call any of us cowards?" Roxas yelled from beside his brother, Sora looking over and seeing the rage in his twin's eyes. Though, it wasn't much different from what he also felt. This man with his lack of care for their world…needed to be stopped. "You used our friends and family for your own selfishness!" Roxas continued, Axel easily holding the lightweight, furious boy back when he tried to rush forward towards Sephiroth. "You've killed those important to us for what reason?"

_Roxas… _

"For what reason does a lion kill a gazelle?" Sephiroth said, speaking slowly as if he were talking to a small child that didn't understand. "For what reason does a small insect fly to be caught in a spider's trap? For what reason…does a flower bloom beautifully only to die ugly and crippled?" As the last words were spoken, Sephiroth held his hand out as if he were holding the flower before he squeezed his hand shut at the word ugly, though his eyes remained cool. He stood looking down at them and frowning as if he were looking at disgusting, vile creatures. "Things live…things die…a never ending process. In a world controlled by both light and dark, these things will only continue to be. One will always be destroyed by the other. Darkness will always continue to attack the light while the light will continue to fight back feebly." He lowered his foot down and stood up gracefully, smoothly pulling his sword from its sheath as he stepped down from the throne. A black wing shot out from one side of his back, flapping lazily behind him, not at all looking out of place on the tall king's body.

Seeing the sword, the group of them got their own weapons ready, though no one made a move to attack him, waiting to see what he would do knowing they needed to work together to win against him. Leon was standing in front of Cloud, protecting the weaponless man along with Auron, the two exchanging a brief look before glaring at Sephiroth. While Sora felt he could protect himself, Riku stood slightly in front of him, prepared to defend him if necessary. Even Roxas was being over shadowed by the tall, lanky red head with the excited smirk on his lips, despite the fact that his glaring eyes were still focused on Sephiroth.

"Therefore, in order to stop destiny, to stop the preordain balance, to stop what was already supposed to be, one MUST be destroyed." As the words were said, he vanished from sight, the group of them lost as they looked around them quickly, trying to find the king of Hallow Bastion. He was fast, faster than Sora had been expecting, the keyblader gripping the keylade hard enough to hurt as his eyes darted around the pristine room, the surprising brightness of the room just not starting to dim down.

"If I kill the light, then darkness can prevail and the world can be ruled as it should have been," the voice said from all around them.

"You can't," Sora yelled out, feeling his heart racing as he anxiously licked his lips.

"If something like that happened," Cloud said looking all around him, "then-"

"It can be either salvation or destruction to this world." Sephiroth appeared behind Sora in a blur of feathers, swinging the sword and just barely hitting Sora's cheek cutting it as the boy was tackled to the ground just in the nick of time by his best friend. He could feel the sting of the cut on his cheek as blood poured down, he could feel Riku's weight on top of him as well realizing that the other had been the one to push him out of the way. If it hadn't been for Riku asking him if he was ok, he wouldn't have known what had happened. All he could do was give a brief nod before looking past him to see where Sephiroth was now.

"Sora"! His brother started to run to his aid, but froze, or at least it felt like he was frozen moving in slow motion as Sora saw Sephiroth appear behind his brother, a sadistic grin on his lips as he swung the sword about to take out the unsuspecting boy.

"Roxas!" Sora yelled out trying to warn him, trying to get to him but being unable to move because of Riku's weight. He saw the sword coming down; saw his brother's wide eyes apparently picking up that something was wrong. He saw…a splattering of blood. Eyes wide, Sora found himself speechless staring at the tall red head standing in front of Roxas with his back to them, defending Roxas even as blood dripped to the ground in front of him. Sephiroth slung his sword to the side, throwing most of the blood from it, not even looking bothered that he missed his intended target.

"A-Axel?" Roxas said softly, staring up with wide, shaky eyes at the tall male's back. Axel looked over his shoulder at him, a small smirk on his lips as he gave a little laugh before he fell forward landing on his knees. "Axel!" Roxas moved quickly dropping down at Axel's side and even Sora tried to move before he froze seeing the tip of Sephiroth's sword pointed at Roxas's neck.

"The only way to kill the light," Sephiroth said pushing the sword's tip forward against Roxas's neck drawing blood causing the young boy to wince, "is to kill the source." He licked his lips savoring the animosity in Roxas's eyes. "The only way to kill the source…is to kill the host."

"So in other words, the same could be said of you," Auron said swinging at Sephiroth from behind, and grunting when the other vanished. "Since you are the source of the darkness."

* * *

"Hmph." Sephiroth smirked floating down from the air landing easily on the ground by the throne and resting a hand on the arm of the large chair. Even Leon felt the shock, glancing off to the side where Axel and Roxas were, seeing Axel laid on his back and tended to by King Mickey. Sora and Roxas stood close by watching at Mickey tried to heal the large, bleeding gash going across the center of Axel's chest. Riku stood nearby protectively, looking just as worried as the rest of them. Even Cloud was standing by with a look of helplessness on his face, his hand clenched at his side.

"This is coming from a person who has so little time to live," Sephiroth replied moving again, using his one wing to propel himself forward faster. The smirk grew on his face, even as his sword came into contact with Auron's as he moved swiftly to defend himself. "This has a familiar feel to it," Sephiroth said, a smug look on his lips as his sword stayed locked with Auron's "It's similar to the time I killed you."

"Killed?" Cloud yelled out making Leon glad of his quick reflexes as he reached out blocking Cloud's way with an arm. He could hear the anger in Cloud's voice, similar to the anger that he felt inside himself. He could faintly hear talking and the king saying that Axel was in the save zone leaving it so Leon could have his full attention on their enemy. "What do you mean killed?"

"So Cloud was never told," Sephiroth let out casually, as if by a second thought.

"This doesn't concern him!" Auron growled angrily. Leon was tempted to attack too, but held back only to protect Cloud who was still weaponless and to make sure he didn't try to rush off again. If Cloud knew about what happened at Kingdom Hearts then-

"I still have the means to control him again," Sephiroth said, Leon glancing at Cloud seeing the confused, suspicious look on his face as he looked at Sephiroth then Auron.

"Auron, what is he talking about?" Cloud asked slowly, catching on that something wasn't right, that he was somehow being lied too and that it had something to do with him. He wasn't far from the truth, not that Leon was tempted to tell him about what happened. He wasn't even sure himself of what he should be feeling after hearing Auron's story.

"Cloud, ignore him," Auron said simply, trying to keep his focus on Sephiroth, it taking everything he had to keep up with Sephiroth's speed.

"You're a murderer," Sephiroth said simply, eyes staring at Cloud, though his attention was focused on Auron, blocking the attacks from Auron with no effort at all. "A killer of your own people…of your own king."

"W-What?" This couldn't be good. If Cloud remembered what happened-

"You were brainwashed to forget," Sephiroth continued, even as Leon rushed forward feeling the need to protect Cloud's well being and wanting to cut Sephiroth off quickly before he revealed too much. "King Ansem blocked your memories so you wouldn't remember the day you killed your king and queen."

"Cloud, don't listen to him!" Leon yelled back, the glare still in his eyes even though he was doing his best to stop Sephiroth from exposing the truth, that Cloud had been the one to kill Sora and Roxas's parents and bring Kingdom Hearts to its ruin.

"You're a murderer!" Sephiroth yelled out throwing his arms up, the darkness spinning around him pushing back the people that dared to go against him. Leon felt himself rolling and falling landing against the wall behind him, the others coming to a rest beside him. He glanced over, glad to see that Sora and Roxas were able to make a shield with the keyblade's light to block the winds from hitting King Mickey and Axel. "Even if you have forgotten...I will make you remember," Sephiroth said suddenly in front of Cloud and holding him by the neck as he lifted him off the ground.

"Cloud!"

"Cloud, no!"

"Put him down!" Leon yelled holding up his gunblade only to get pushed back again no match against Sephiroth's power. Leon and the others were forgotten as Sephiroth looked at Cloud still holding him by the neck, not caring for the gasp for air coming from Cloud's lips, despite how Auron and Leon struggled to get to him. He was desperate now, feeling helpless as he watched Cloud kicking his feet and struggling for breath.

"Do you want to know what happened?" Sephiroth said even as Cloud was reaching up trying to remove the hands from around his neck. The others tried to get close, tried to stop Sephiroth but each time they got to a certain point, they were pushed back again. When the blond didn't say anything, the grin on Sephiroth's lips seemed to grow even more as he pressed his hand against Cloud's chest. No one knew what he was doing at first, but as darkness started to travel down Sephiroth's arm heading towards Cloud, there was a panic. There was yelling, struggling, screaming, and all other forms of chaos as everyone tried to get to Cloud to stop what was about to happen.

All hope was dashed to pieces, the darkness entering Cloud's chest, his eyes widening before he yelled out in pain, the thought coming into Leon's mind that the darkness must be eating away at him. Sephiroth didn't stop, continuing to let the darkness inside even as it crawled over the whites of his eyes making them completely void of light and turning them a deep pool of emptiness.

"Stop…"was the single word that slipped form Leon's mouth as he stood up. He could feel the pain in his back from where he'd slammed into the wall, the muscles pulsing and aching from the abuse. But he didn't let it stop him as he glared at Sephiroth doing his best to move forward, to get to Cloud even as the strong wind of Sephiroth's darkness kept pushing him back. "Stop it!"

As if the words yelled were some special power, Sephiroth stopped, letting go of Cloud not even caring as the blond collapsed falling to the floor like a broken rag doll. The wind around them stopped, confusing them all for a moment. It was calm...the kind of calm that comes when one was stuck in the middle of a bad storm. It didn't help at all that Sephiroth still had that smirk on his lips, the appendix protruding from his back flapping behind him lazily as he watched.

Leon hesitated…but it was only for a moment before he rushed over dropping down in front of Cloud and resting a hand on his shoulders shaking him. "Cloud! Cloud wake up!" The hands of the blond twitched slightly, at least giving Leon a sign that he was alive. That wasn't' enough for Leon to go on. Cloud's body was limp and even paler than usual. He was obviously alive, though his blackened eyes stared unseeingly, unfocused as he laid there. He wasn't responding.

"Auron, what happened to him? Auron?" When he looked up, he saw Auron heading towards Sephiroth with confident strides, sword held tightly in his grip. Leon was certain he saw the other's body become transparent for a moment but when he blinked his eyes, he saw nothing but Auron's solid form swinging away at Sephiroth. He was skilled...but he was slowing down too, panting tiredly and holding his hand over the hourglass underneath his shirt. He wasn't going to last much longer against Sephiroth.

Leon glanced at the others, finding Riku standing protectively over the three keybladers near Axel, eyes focused on Cloud's body, looking like he was torn between checking on his friend and protecting the keybladers working to heal Axel. Their eyes met briefly, Riku looking and searching before giving a brief nod of approve, apparently reading in the way Leon stood exactly what he was planning to do. Leon knew what he had to do, and apparently his prince...no...his king was giving him the permission to act.

Standing to his feet, Leon held Cloud close to him, carrying the prone body of the second in command over to where Sora, Mickey, and Roxas were. He was careful when he laid the body down beside Axel's not wanting to disturb the three males from their work, seeing the sweat on their faces from keeping the power flowing, from keeping the shield up as Mickey worked to heal the red head. By the fact that Axel was starting to breath easier and the wound was closing up well, Axel was doing pretty good. Roxas seemed to be thinking the same thing, looking worried but at the same time looking relieved to know Axel would be ok.

Leon stood again, his eyes meeting up with Riku who stood before him before he reached out resting his hand on the boy's shoulder and giving it a brief squeeze. "Take care of him for me," he said, the young king giving another nod and something of a smirk before the first in command turned from him and reached to his side pulling his gunblade free. He held his gunblade just over his shoulder, as he glared at Sephiroth with murderous intent.

As Leon walked towards Sephiroth, the air around him seemed to spark. He was angry. He was letting that anger control him and he knew that such anger was what he needed to fuel the power inside him. He kept walking, ignoring the look Auron gave him. He was sick of Sephiroth playing games with them, with their lives. It was time to put an end to this.

As he walked towards Sephiroth, he felt the energy radiating in his body, ready to lash out. The energy was flowing into his body. He held his sword to his side seeing the long extension of blue sparkling light. Though his sword wasn't as long as Sephiroth's, Leon felt that he had a better chance of fighting now.

It'd been a long time since he'd used this ability, an ability that not many knew about. It was something that the late king of Radiant Garden knew about. It was an ability of his that had caused fear and panic in the past, that had caused people to think of him as a cold-blooded killer. It was such that King Ansem had been the one to lock such an ability away, leaving the only ones to be able to break that seal to be King Ansem himself, and his grandson Riku. It was this very ability...the blood thirsty feeling that was flooding through his body, that he was going to use to defeat Sephiroth.

He didn't have to glance back to see Riku going through the motions with his hands, light flowing from his nimble fingers and being sucked in by the gunblade, that power being fed through the blade into his body. He knew Riku had learned it first hand from Ansem himself, a reason why the three of them had spent time together locked inside the special room. It hadn't been just talk about Riku's wedding that had caused them to keep everyone away. But the only time they were able to go into this training was when Cloud was sent away on a mission or on patrol, something Leon was grateful for. He didn't want Cloud to see him like that...to see him like he was now.

For Sephiroth's part, he looked amused staring at him with the smallest of a smirk. Auron was once again pushed away by Sephiroth's power, as the other prepared himself to meet Leon's attack. Leon was able to hold his feet only sliding slightly from the force. Regardless, he pushed forward starting to jog before he started to run full blast, the rage taking over giving him the energy to attack.

The sword was swung, just barely missing as Sephiroth jumped back from him. By the smile on Sephiroth's face, he was enjoying this immensely. Leon's eyes flickered to him, so cold they could have frozen the fires of hell. Again he swung, the large sword coming in contact with Sephiroth's, the two facing off against each other blow for blow. Still, despite being so equally matched, Sephiroth didn't seem the least bit worried.

"I have been waiting to see this," Sephiroth said, the corners of his lips lifting up in a smug sort of look. Leon didn't give him a reply, glaring at him as he used his sword to push Sephiroth back form him, the other landing gracefully, staring at him before he threw his head back laughing. "Finally...the true face Squall The Lion."

TBC…

Yay a month...I think...gonna let this bake a few days so hopefully when I reread it again it won't have so many errors...granted I'm sure there will still be errors here since I can't catch them all. Hey, I'm not a pokemon hunter ya know? ::puts on a cap and throws a pokeball:: I'm not really sure how many chapters we have left here but I'll take a guess and say maybe...five or six. And yeah...that one sword line with Auron and Sephiroth still sounds dirty...even after I changed it from them Sephiroth pushing his sword against Auron's. Gah...I can't imagine the dominant one in that relationship. x.x


	30. Princely Garbs 30

Pairings: Riku/Sora, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: Eh...still took longer than I expected. D:

However for good news :D

Hopefully it won't take as long as I am actually working on it like I'm supposed to, I do have another chapter and a half done. My plan is to finish writing up the rest of the story before I post it up. That way there won't be such long waits between. Well...as long as no more writer's blocks hit me anyway.

Princely Garbs 30

Cloud was lost. Cloud was completely taken by the darkness, or at least that's how it felt to him anyway. His last memory was of looking down at Sephiroth through blurred vision, before the darkness seemed to invade his body. That feeling of being eaten by the darkness from the inside out…he really hated the feeling.

For a moment, he thought all hope was lost, at least until he saw the small trail of light breaking through the darkness in front of him. He waited for a moment, expecting something else to happen. When nothing else followed, Cloud took the initiative and started walking beginning to follow the trial. It was not like he had the time to sit and wait on things to solve themselves. He needed to get back to the others. They needed to defeat Sephiroth.

There was no end in sight and when he looked back behind him, he saw nothing of the trail he'd followed only seeing the darkness that had swallowed it up. What was guiding him, it was obvious that it was not giving him the choice to turn back. He continued following the trial hoping that soon he would reach his destination.

* * *

Riku was glad that both Sora and Roxas were too absorbed in healing Axel to notice that Leon had completely changed. He was even almost glad that Cloud wasn't conscious to see it. Leon was like a different person when his full power was awakened. Though others like Yuffie had heard Leon's true name, they didn't know the significance of it. Even Riku wasn't sure about Leon…no Squall's origin.

The name "Squall the Lion," seemed to fit him. He moved with the prow and grace of a full grown lion, his sword held ready reminding him of bared fangs dripping with saliva ready to bite. Leon's blue eyes were glaring intently at Sephiroth like a predator towards its prey.

"You are a very angry little cub," Sephiroth said looking and sounding calm despite being pushed by Leon's renewed energy.

"Say what you want," Leon growled out, the slash between his eyes seeming to glow as he started to attack, planning on not giving Sephiroth the time to react. "You will go down today." Auron was back in it as well, keeping up now that he had regained some of his baring, though the visible amount of sand left inside the hour glass left Riku worried.

As the last of Squall's powers slipped from his grip, Riku fell forwards on his knees panting, exhausted from giving Squall his powers all at once. He wondered if there was more to it as he saw the misty dark cloud swirling around his hands. No, the darkness should be done from him now, right? What he was looking at had to be all in his mind.

"Riku!" Riku glanced over at Sora, seeing the younger one kneeling beside him with worried eyes and pouty lips, his hand being clutched warmly. "Are you ok?" Riku started to pull his hand away, to hide them in hopes that Sora hadn't seen the dark mist but when he looked down, the mist wasn't there. Instead he was left with the heated feeling of Sora's hand on his, the same hand belonging to the most important person in the world to him.

"I'm fine," Riku said feeling the warmth on his cheeks from the blush he knew had to be visible. "What about you? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Sora said looking at Riku almost appearing to be a little embarrassed himself. "I'm tired but I can't rest until Sephiroth has been defeated."

"Well if Leon can keep it up, he might be defeated faster than we think."

"He seems different," Sora said looking towards Leon with a curious look on his face. "I've never seen a sword like that before. How did he get it?" His eyes flickered to Riku's, the older boy having to look away at the suddenness of it, instead looking over to where Leon was engaged in close combat with Sephiroth, gun blade glowing brightly. Riku frowned wanting to tell him but feeling that it was for Leon himself to say. Considering who's past it was, Leon would be the most vulnerable to its memories.

"Auron, watch out!" The yell of the younger prince alerted Riku as he turned quickly, to see Auron had fallen to his knees. His body was partly faded, Sephiroth standing over him bringing the sword down. Leon scowled moving fast and pushing Sephiroth back with his gun blade becoming more like an angry lion trying to protect his own.

"Your business is with me right now," Leon said darkly, keeping his heated blue eyes on the platinum haired male as he stood over Auron protectively. "Leave him out of this."

"If you wish to die so quickly…then that is fine," Sephiroth drawled, reminding Riku of a purring cat. Slowly he turned his body, his grace even greater than Leon's, which was probably why he was able to move so fast, running and colliding his overly long sword with Leon's making the other have to take a step back from the sudden force appearing in front of him.

Though it was probably from Sephiroth's more advanced skills with the sword, Riku could tell that Leon's tiredness did play a part in it. Leon was breathing hard, blood dripping to the floor from the few wounds he'd received. Despite his strength and speed from earlier, he was starting to wear down. The anger and frustration from before, the true source of his power was draining and seeping away.

Yet, Sephiroth stood there relaxed and breathing easily. He had that smirk on his lips which seemed to stretch even more as he saw Leon swaying in front of him, staring and yet becoming unfocused.

"I thought I would receive more of a challenge…but it appears I was wrong. Perhaps you are ready for a cat nap," Sephiroth said grinning as he spoke the words. "Or perhaps you are not determined enough to save your precious partner."

At the mention of Cloud, Leon looked over at the blond, seeing the prone figure lying there on the ground next to an equally comatose Axel. Seeing the figure there, helpless, unmoving, almost appearing dead seemed to renew the fire inside him, the glow and length of his gun blade that had started to revert back to its original form swelling with life as he gripped it in his hand.

"We should help him," Riku said clenching his hands at his side. He might be weaponless but he could still use his fist. He'd heard of people that used just their hands and feet to fight, even being able to attack people with swords with no problems. Granted he probably didn't have the speed for it himself, but he couldn't just stand there like a dummy and do nothing.

"I believe you have more important things to worry about."

_That voice..._

The two boys turned quickly at the deep, masculine voice before their eyes widened and they moved into defensive stances quickly.

"How…why…are you here?" Sora yelled out, the keyblade appearing in his hand with a quick wisp of light. "Xemnas!"

"I will obtain true darkness," Xemnas said staring at them with such a calm and cool expression, not looking much worse for wear than the last time they had seen him back in the antechamber. "Only then will the world truly understand how weak it truly is." No...could this mean that the others were defeated? What about Mickey and Donald and Goofy? What about the Organization members that had turned to help them to escape? What about those still under the influence of Xemnas's darkness?

"Then you'll have to go through us first!" Riku yelled out clenching his hands.

"Riku, here!" Riku looked over at Roxas seeing the keyblade being tossed at him and reached out catching it, surprised at the fact that it didn't disappear from his hand.

"Are you sure?" Riku asked looking at Roxas questioningly.

"I'm sure. I can handle myself," Roxas said in return and held of his hand, another keyblade appearing there. "Just take Xemnas out before it's too late."

"Hmm...this will be fun," Xemnas said grinning as he moved into his own fighting pose, looking all too intrigued by the two boys. "Who's first?"

* * *

He was getting tired of the constant walking, of seeing nothing but the darkness and the light trail that was leading him on. It was starting to make him feel disoriented, not sure if he was going forwards or backwards or if time has passed or stood still. It made him at times feel like he would go insane. The only thing that kept him going was the thought that he wanted to see others again. Cloud didn't want to stay here forever. He wanted to help the others fight Sephiroth. He wanted to see Leon…

_Leon….guys…hold on, I'm coming…I just need to figure out how to get out of here._

As if the mental words of encouragement to himself were the key, or maybe his yearning to see Leon again, the light before him stretched out eating away the darkness so fast that he closed his eyes which had become adjusted to the darkness. When he opened his eyes again, what he saw amazed him. He was inside of Kingdom Hearts…not the way it was now all broken and desolate but the way it had been before, bright and bustling with life.

Cloud was in the garden surrounded by the glow of the sunlight around him. It was warm…and comforting making him feel relaxed despite the fact that he didn't know what was going on. How had he gotten here? This wasn't real right? But how was it that he could feel the sunlight and smell the flowers?

"Here you are!" A familiar voice said from behind him making him turn around quickly. He felt his chest tighten, felt the lump in his throat and his heart racing as he stared at the man in front of him.

"Y-You're highness! King Tsunami!"

"You're looking like you've seen a ghost," the previous king of Kingdom Hearts said laughing before he grinned at him. "Now what did I tell you guys about calling me king. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Ah...yes your high...I mean...Tsunami."

"That's better. I can never get Auron to quit being so formal. He's so stubborn," the king said grinning in that way that reminded Cloud of the young prince Sora. "So, what's got you all jumpy? I didn't scare you did I? You were kind of spacing out here for a moment."

"It's not that," Cloud said clearing his throat and looking away to hold back tears not wanting to alert his king. This was a sick joke if it was an illusion. Maybe he should just pinch himself and wake up now so he wouldn't have suffer for it later.

"Hey, I was planning on sneaking out later. Do you want to join me?"

"Huh?" Cloud's eyes went wide at that before he found himself giving the king an admonishing look. "But, your highness-"

"Aw but it'll be fun!" The king gave him the puppy dog eyes, the same eyes that Cloud found he couldn't avoid even if he wanted to. His king…was a sneaky one. He'd no doubt taught Cloud that trick as well since Sora was good at getting him like that. Chances are, even Roxas was probably good at it too. Hmm now that he thought about it, he'd be attack two to one with that face. Would he be able to take it?

"Fine," Cloud said giving a sigh as he gave in, even dropping his head a bit. "But just for a little while."

"Really?" The king's eyes went wide before he grinned and walked over slapping Cloud on the back almost toppling him over. You wouldn't know how strong the king really was just by looking at him. But then again, to be able to handle a kingdom this large, control the power of light, and wield a keyblade, he had to be strong. "Thank you, Cloud. You're the best!" Turning, the king started to walk off, looking way too perky. "Let's go before Auron finds out."

"Even if your wish comes true,"a voice said in the darkness, Cloud's body instinctively tensing up and reaching to hold the hilt of his sword as he looked around for where the voice had come. The king didn't seem to respond to it, probably not hearing it though the voice seemed to echo more in Cloud's head than having been spoken out loud. "Even if your wish comes true," the voice continued again, "You may not like what you get."

There was a shadow moving within the bushes of the garden. He felt his muscles tightening up and the sound of his hand gripping the leather wrapped around his sword's hilt reaching his ears. His heart was beating fast wondering, knowing that even though the darkness couldn't get into the palace, regular humans could. He saw it then, the glowing yellow eyes staring at him from between the bushes, saw the snout of the wolf poking its nose out as the golden eyes stared at him. For some reason, he knew he wasn't in danger, he knew that this wolf, this creature was somehow watching over him, maybe even a part of him.

"Is something wrong, Cloud?" Cloud looked over to see his king and majesty standing looking back at him with a worried look on his face. Shaking his head quickly, he gave a small smile of encouragement, a quick glance showing him the wolf was gone now.

"Not at all, your majesty," Cloud said then paused seeing the look the king gave him before he almost rolling his eyes. "Tsunami. But we better get going before Auron finds out."

"Good good," the king said giving a laugh. "I told you, it's fine to call me without all those formal titles. We'll just use that sort of name for when I have to be all formal and stuff."

"You're really alot like your brother, sir."

"Yes!" Tsunami said stretching his arms up into the air starting up at the sky and smiling. "You know you really don't have to call me sir. It makes me feel all...old. Besides...Zack was a far better king than I was." There was a small, sad smile after those words.

"I know…but it's…"

_Important? _

It made him feel like everything would be ok. That the king would stay alive forever…that he didn't get killed. Maybe Cloud could stay here forever…

_But then…Leon…_

No, he had to get back. He couldn't stay here as much as he might want to. He couldn't live in a world knowing that in truth the king was dead. But the longer he stayed here, the more it felt like maybe this was real and what had happened was a dream. He wished…he could keep everyone important to him alive.

"Coming, Cloud?"

Cloud looked up from where he'd been zoning out and smiled again at the king before he started to walk towards him again, giving a nod of his head. "Coming, your maj...um...Tsunami."

TBC…

Happy late New Merry Thanks Gimmee Year and possibly Valentine's day by the time I get this story out! And I guess it did...muhahahahahahahaha!


	31. Princely Garbs 31

Pairings: Riku/Sora, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: I lied…-_-; It took way longer than I expected…however I do have close to twelve chapters done or in editing state so I think it's safe to say I'll update them every Friday. :D

Princely Garbs 31

"Riku!"

"Don't!" Riku panted out holding a hand to his chest out of breath. He was looking at Sora when he spoke and coughed standing up straight before going into a defensive stance. "We have to take him out."

"But-" Sora looked at him worried, but the look didn't last long as Xemnas started to attack forcing Sora to focus on him again. The twin blades he held had a strange red glow to them that seemed to radiate with the darkness. Sora felt like it was stealing his energy from him.

"The darkness is still wearing on him," Xemnas said coolly as he pushed Sora back from him. "It will only be a matter of time before he loses to it once again."

"You're wrong!" Sora yelled out throwing a hand to the side of him before reaching up holding it over his heart. "There is no more darkness inside of him."

"All things have darkness," Xemnas said, body hovering off the ground magically. "And all things will succumb to that darkness. Darkness can never disappear. It will merely hide in the hearts of people."

The words must have been a mechanism of some sort because as soon as the last world slipped free from those grim lips, Riku yelled out clenching at his chest and falling to his knees, the keyblade dropping from his hand and disappearing.

"Riku!" Sora turned, looking at the boy and forgetting, for a moment, his enemy.

"You should never turn your back on the enemy," Xemnas said lifting a leg and spinning kicking Sora to the far corner. "Or were you never taught that?"

"Oof!" The breath was knocked out of him when his back slammed into the wall before falling into a crumpled heap.

"So...ra..." Through cracked blue eyes, Sora groaned seeing Riku's hand held out reaching towards him. He reached out his hand, wanting to try and grab hold in return but being too far away. A dark mist was surrounding Riku's body and caressing over his skin like a virus spreading.

A shadow loomed over him and he looked up seeing Xemnas staring down at him. Suddenly, there was a crushing weight on his hand causing Sora to yell out in pain and try to pull his hand free from the heavy foot.

"The light...with its feeble attempts at hope and love...how I wish to snuff it out." He twisted his foot from side to side making Sora wince in agony and bare his teeth to hold back tears of pain. "It makes me want to kill it."

"Sora!" He heard his brother's voice yelling out before the weight on his hand was lifted. Roxas was there locked keyblade to twin blades glaring at Xemnas. "Sora, are you ok?" Roxas asked, though his eyes stayed on Xemnas.

"I'm fine," Sora managed coughing as he held his side struggling to stand against the pain. He had a feeling and not a good one either that he might have a few broken ribs. "What about...Riku?"

"He's ok for the moment," King Mickey said in his high pitched mousy voice. The small figure stood beside Sora in a protective stance. "Goofy will keep him safe."

"Goofy is here?" Sora asked looking around and finding Riku crouched down and looking like he was struggling to stand. Goofy was standing in front of him and holding up his shield to protect him, his long nose peeking over the shield comically before disappearing behind it.

"Donald's keeping a magic shield over Axel and Cloud so they're safe too," Mickey continued reassuring him. "Right now we need to keep the darkness from taking over Riku."

"But how?" Sora asked feeling helpless, not sure if Xemnas had put the darkness there or if it come from Riku himself.

"We have to use the keyblades," Mickey said before running off towards Xemnas.

"King Mickey!" Sora yelled out reaching out after him.

"You and Roxas need to use the keyblades to attack the darkness inside of him before it takes over!"

"But-!"

"Leave Xemnas to me!" Mickey yelled out before he flipped into the air, his keyblade aimed towards Xemnas. The leader of the organization XIII must have sensed the danger as he vanished in a puff of darkness just before the hit could be made.

"Your efforts are futile," Xemnas said from behind them drawing their attention. "Even should the darkness disappear it will only be a matter of time before it returns."

"Then we'll do whatever it takes to keep it away," Roxas yelled out confidently as he pointed his keyblade at Riku, a bright light shooting from it hitting into the young king making his body arch off the ground and go taunt. It looked as if something were trying to break out. The Darkness, maybe?

"What you are doing is useless," Xemnas said actually being held back by Mickey. "You are delaying the inevitable."

"Then we'll do it as many times as it takes," Sora responded running to stand beside Roxas and joining in as he pointed his own keyblade at Riku. "We'll keep the darkness away from his heart." A dark shadow of mist floated over Riku's body, his color returning and the pained look on his face starting to calm.

"And we'll defeat you in the process!" Roxas added out a white ball of light surrounding Riku before it flashed blindingly covering everything in a sheet of white.

* * *

_Hm? Where am I now?_

Cloud had seen a flash of light and now he was...in darkness again. It felt like the first time when he'd been there except for some reason he found he couldn't move his body. It wasn't responding to him. He tried to open his mouth to call out to the king...to Tsunami, but even his mouth would not respond to him. It gave him a moment of panic, making him wonder if he was paralyzed or maybe already dead and stuck in some sort of limbo where he would forever be trapped in this state of immobility.

"What do you think?" A voice, Auron's voice said from in the darkness making Cloud's mind reel in confusion. If Auron was there, why was it that he couldn't see him? "Is there anything we can do to help him?"

_Help him? Are they talking about me?_

Cloud listened carefully, not having much choice in the matter anyway considering he couldn't move.

"Hard to say," an older yet familiar voice said, sounding even closer than Auron's had. "Whatever Sephiroth did to him, it's completely integrated into his memories. Even if he did return to himself, it's possible he'll go crazy with the knowledge of what he did and start to go berserk and kill everyone."

_Berserk? Kill everyone?_

The voice belonged to Merlin, that weird justly voice being something that not anyone could just mimic. So that meant they were inside Radiant Garden. But where in the kingdom were they? And why couldn't he move or see anything?

"If we can't make him forget there is the second option of...well you get where I'm going with this," Ansem's voice said leaving a pause as if he was looking at the others or maybe even thinking to himself before he continued. "If we can't make him forget, he could end up becoming a threat to the kingdom. Not just this kingdom, but all kingdoms. If that happens...we'll have no choice but to-"

"I'll take responsibility," Auron said quickly breaking into the line of conversation, sounding persistent and scared, something Cloud was not used to. "If he starts to go crazy I'll...do it myself with these two hands of mine. But at least, King Ansem, give him a chance. Not just for his sake or for King Tsunami's dying wish but...for me as well. The king said before he died that you would be able to help him...will you at least accept his dying wish and help Cloud?"

There was hesitation and through, Cloud's on mind, confusion. So they were talking about him after all. But why? What had he done? What did Auron mean by Tsunami's dying wish? What did they mean by him going crazy and killing everyone? And Sephiroth...what did Sephiroth have to do with this?

"Merlin, what can be done to help Cloud?" Ansem said after a time breaking through Cloud's train of thought.

"Well, your majesty, we could completely rewrite his memory to something much more favorable," Merlin said. "And perhaps do the same we did for Leon and lock away his power."

_Power?_

"I remember King Tsunami mentioned to me once that Cloud had a special power deep down inside him that could grow stronger in the face of danger," Auron said speaking the words carefully. "Maybe that was the reason that Sephiroth targeted him."

"In Leon's...or Squall's case, he was afraid of this very thing happening, of the darkness taking over and controlling that power making him hurt innocent lives...that was the reason he came to us and asked us to block it. Right now, I'm the only one who can unlock his powers but soon I'll have to teach Riku how to do it as well."

"The young prince is close to Sora's age, right?"

"Is the young boy still missing?"

"I had hoped he would be here. I wish it had been possible to send him to the Magic Kingdom but with the king...dead...there's no one to open the door now. The only other place I can think of him to be is here in Radiant Garden."

"We'll keep an eye out for him."

"For the time being though...can you do the same thing that you did for Squall? Can you lock away Cloud's power and recreate his memories to forget what happened?"

"We would still need another's memories to help rewrite it. In a way, he'll have to borrow from someone else's memories. The only thing is that the person who's memories we use...would lose some of their life's energy. They will die sooner than it was meant to happen."

"That's fine," Auron said not even giving a moment's hesitation. "You can use my memories. If it can help him to stay alive, to stay sane then I would even give my life."

"...Essentially you will be giving your life," Merlin said a frown to his words. "Because he would be taking a part of you...your life's energy will be off balance and it's possible it might even begin to fade sooner than you expect. Not only that...but there's a chance your own memories will become altered as well and that you will forget why you did things or even the consequences of your own actions. And once your life has faded away it's possible he might completely forget you."

_Auron?_

"...That's fine. I don't mind...as I said before it doesn't matter as long as he can live his life guilt free." There was a hint of determination in his voice. "Use my life to save his. Use my memories to protect him."

There was a brief moment of silence before Cloud heard Ansem's voice close by him. He felt a hand, Auron's hand, touch his forehead, staying for a moment before it moved away.

"Merlin, let us get ready."

"Yes sir. I'll be sure to give you something later to help you regulate how much time you will have left to live," Merlin said though he didn't sound the least bit happy about it. After that...there was silence...and the darkness again.

Cloud was floating again, lost not only in darkness but in confusion as well. Why was Auron going through all of this for him? What was it that Cloud had done that made everyone want to go through the trouble of changing his memories for it? Why did he feel so bad, knowing now that he was the one who caused Auron's death? No...by the way Merlin was talking, did that mean Auron wasn't dead yet? Did maybe Auron's memories get all mixed up when he went to confront Sephiroth? Then that means there might still be time to stop it!

He found he could move his body again and figured he must be heading towards another location, towards another memory. Cloud knew what these visions were now. His memories of his past. His memories of the king. His memories left forgotten. So what memory was he about to witness next? Further up ahead of him, a light grew shining brightly as if it were a beacon. It called to him as he floated in the darkness and he wasn't truly able to control himself, finding himself floating right towards it.

"Are you sure you want to know the truth?" the mysterious voice said to him again, his own voice. When he looked to the side he saw the wolf standing there beside him even as he was floating, looking far less foreboding than he would have thought, just looking on as a bystander. "What you see here can change your life, probably for the worst. Do you think you can handle that truth about yourself?"

Cloud hesitated before he stared defiantly at the wolf, feeling in some ways that he was looking at himself in a mirror. He was a lone wolf...or at least he used to be. Now he had people that were his friends, he had someone that he felt was the most important person in his life...he had people he wanted to protect. He wasn't alone anymore...or maybe he had never truly been alone, feeling in some ways that Auron had been there with him all along...and remembering how much Leon had looked after him when he'd first arrived.

"If I can't even handle something as simple as a memory, then I might as well not be a leader."

The shadow of himself stared a bit longer before fading away into the misty darkness leaving nothing but a voice behind. "I will protect you no longer. Instead, I will only watch and see if you will be eaten away by your own darkness or if you can conquer it."

Cloud frowned staring up ahead at the light he floated towards. Granted that he wasn't fully confident he could handle it, he was determined to know the truth. What was Auron keeping from him? Why were they trying to protect him? That was the answer he was about to get. Whatever it was, it was something they deemed dangerous for him to learn.

Sighing and bracing himself for whatever he was about to see as he floated along into the light.

* * *

The darkness was still there inside of him, but it was much more manageable now. He could feel it being calmed by the light being fed into him. The light was warm...helping to keep the darkness he thought had left him at bay.

When he opened his eyes he saw Sora's soft blues staring down at him, the worry he saw there vanishing away into relief and happiness. It made Riku feel bad to know that he had caused Sora to worry so much, swearing he could see the tears shining in the younger boy's eyes.

"Riku..." Sora said softly as Riku pushed himself to his feet. "Riku, I-"

"We'll have to save it for after we defeat Sephiroth and Xemnas," Roxas said interrupting, his eyes focused on both Mickey and Leon.

"He's right," Riku said, clearing his throat at the gruffness his voice gave off before giving Sora a confident smile. "I have something I want to say too." Though he really did want to hear what Sora had to say to him, a part of him felt worried by the words. Sure, they had kissed once before all this, more like Riku had initiated the kiss himself. Though he knew that Sora cared for him, it didn't necessarily mean that Sora loved him in that way. Hell, Sora might have just gone along with it out of pity. At least, that's what had been running through Riku's mind since the kiss.

"Stay focused," Roxas yelled out elbowing Riku and handing him a keyblade again before standing in front of him defensively. Riku nodded then semi frowned noticing how both Sora and Roxas's hands shook. They were tired...probably from helping Axel earlier. Even the old mouse king was tired, some of his human features starting to show through.

"Give up your futile efforts," Xemnas said, his form splitting up into three duplicate copies, each copy heading before one of each of the three keybladers. "Vanish before the power of darkness."

TBC...

Annnnd I hope I kept this feeling at least somewhat the same D: Sorry for the long wait and stuff.


	32. Princely Garbs 32

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: Sorry it's a little late. :( I was trying to editting any little things last night and well...passed out with sleepiness. But here it is now! Hope you guys enjoy it.

Princely Garbs 32

As Cloud got closer to the light, he frowned hearing Auron's frantic voice and hearing the voices of soldiers long dead. It made him pause on the edge of darkness and stare into the light worried now about what he would see. What was inside the light? Was it something he would regret remembering? At the sound of screaming and crying woman and children, the moans of the dying, and those that begged for their lives, Cloud took a step back. Going into the light would mean reliving everything he had remembered and everything he had forgotten. He would see all the horrors of his people being slaughtered by the creatures of darkness. He would once again see Sora taken away by the soldier, after the death of his parents. He would once again see the accusing eyes staring at him with fear and hatred.

_Wait...why would they look at me...like th-_

"Cloud!" Cloud lifted his head up quickly at the voice, Auron's voice. It was strong, strong enough to push the darkness away forcing Cloud into the blinding light. Once again it started dissipate leaving Cloud in a new place. But what met his eyes was not what he had expected.

"Cloud..." The sound, the voice of his king wasn't one of relief but instead it was quite the opposite. When Cloud looked up he found his eyes staring into those of the king's desperate ones. There was a hand, his hand, around the neck choking the life from his king. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, to pull his hand away, to move his body, it wouldn't respond to him. All he could do was watch the hand clenching tighter around the delicate skin bruising it, not giving any relief or even a moment of breath. He could hear King Tsunami's struggling, jagged breath in his ear, almost as if it were his own breath though far too irregular. The king's eyes were clouding over making Cloud want to swallow the lump he felt, the lump his body ignored as it followed its own will. "Cl...oud..."

The king's hand reached up, shaky and unstable as it moved closer and closer to his face. Just as Cloud was certain he'd felt the brush of chilled fingers against his cheek, the king's eyes went wide in pain. He coughed, blood exploding from his mouth, some splattering on Cloud's face as his buster sword went through the king's chest. His mind screamed as he tried to fight his body. He stared with horrified eyes as he dropped the dying body of his majesty on the ground like a piece of rotten fruit. Cloud wanted to look away from the dying eyes but he couldn't even will his body to do this one act.

"No!"

"CLOUD!" His hands were covered in blood even as his foot rested on the king's chest, and a hand reached down to pull the sword free. As he stared down at the king, seeing a shaking hand reaching up to him, Cloud mentally clenched at his hair before he yelled out, feeling the darkness surrounding him stealing his consciousness leaving only the sight of his dead king's eyes staring at him accusingly.

* * *

"Riku!" No matter how hard he tried, Xemnas's clone was pushing him back. He couldn't expect help from the others considering everyone had their hands full. Even with Riku and Sora fighting together against the clone, with Riku inexperienced with a keyblade, he couldn't do much to hold back the darkness, which only made Sora want to protect him more.

"Stay focused!" Riku yelled out making Sora flinch and stop on the spot trying to rush to his aid. He'd just gotten Riku back from the darkness; the last thing he wanted was to lose him again now.

"But..."

"You'd be smart to listen to him," Xemnas's clone said coolly, taking his hand and punching Riku so hard he flew across the room.

"Riku!"

"Don't..." Riku said as he sat up slowly wincing with obvious pain. "We have to...defeat him..."

"But...he'll kill you!" Sora yelled holding up the keyblade and running towards Xemnas's back. It wasn't a perfect run. His ankle still hurt like hell. Even with his staggering movements he managed to keep up, holding his hand to his injured chest. He tapped into the power of light, his keyblade glowing as he took aim for Xemnas's back in hopes of landing at least a hit on him.

"Sora, stop!"

"Anger only leads to bad judgement," the clone said, sadistic grin on his lips as he vanished from in front of Riku. At the look on Riku's face, Sora panicked turning around and his eyes going wide as he saw Cloud standing in front of him. It was almost surreal, the time seeming to slow down as he found himself staring up into dark unseeing eyes. The buster sword that should have been hidden by Auron was in his hand. It was already on the move, Sora not having enough time to defend against the large blade. The brunet's eyes went wide, the sound of Riku and Roxas screaming his name ringing in his ears just as he felt the blinding pain of Cloud's sword going through his chest. For a brief moment, Sora felt regret for not telling Riku how he truly felt…and then his vision got blurry before he felt himself falling into nothingness.

* * *

"Kairi, are you ok?"

Seifer looked up hearing Selphie talking to Riku's cousin. He watched as the young girl shook her head and smiled even as she wiped at her eyes as more tears fell. But it wasn't as if Seifer blamed her, his own feelings of frustration and anger messed with his own judgment not long ago.

Maybe it was because he was stuck here in Kingdom Hearts instead of being out there fighting with the others. Maybe it was because so much had happened over the past few months that he didn't really understand. Hell, maybe he was just worried about the others only to get mad at himself for worrying.

The feeling he'd gotten just moments before wasn't helping either. Something must have happened, and it must have been bad whatever it was. It felt like things were getting darker, that whatever hope they had to survive was already being snatched away from them. From the looks on the others' faces, they must have felt something similar.

"You're not about to suddenly start crying too are you?" Tidus asked, sounding sincere as his big dopey face appeared in front of Seifer's view.

"Shut up before I give you something to cry about," Seifer said, frowning at his auto response. Yes...he was on edge. And he'd be damned if he let this little punk get to him.

"Hey, lighten up would you?" Tidus didn't even seem fazed by the older male as he moved leaning against the wall beside him, arms folded almost mimicking Seifer's exact pose. "Ever since Sora and Riku left, you've been on edge."

"Because this isn't something some wussy little kids should be doing."

"But you're still a kid yourself!"

"I'm seventeen," Seifer grated sounding a bit indignant, his right eye twitching. Maybe it would be easier to just take him out now. "And what are you guys, like twelve?"

"Sixteen," Tidus said sounding just as insulted now. "Look, either way, trying to rush off to some unknown place to fight some weirdo, is just…suicide."

"So is staying here and waiting for said weirdo to come and kill us," Seifer said pushing off the wall. "I'm not saying we should just rush in," he continued starting to walk away. "But we could at least do…something."

Tidus sighed before he moved following after him. "I take it that you felt it too, that really bad feeling that something horrible just happened."

Seifer didn't answer him directly, just gave a nod of his head as he shoved his hands into his pockets. It was true that he was really itching for a fight, but what Tidus said had definitely hit it right on the nail. Something had happened…something that shouldn't have…and he was certain it involved one of his comrades.

_Damn it, this is so annoying!_

"Why don't we spar a bit?"

"Can't. You're too much of a weakling to match me." The words were cruel but true. Seifer was a senior close to joining in ranks with some of the higher ups. Hell, if it weren't for his need to pester Leon and getting too overbearing in his attacks during practice, he'd be up there with Cloud right now.

"You won't know until you try."

"I think not," Seifer said, not even bothering to look back. As Seifer kept walking he felt a bump against the middle of his back and turned seeing Tidus standing there grinning and holding up the fist he'd used to hit Seifer. It hadn't been a hard hit, more of a playful hit but it was enough to entice Seifer…well a little bit anyway. "Oh so you want a piece of me, squirt?"

"Sure, bring it on!" Tidus said, grinning as he ran off.

"Tsk..." He tried to act like he didn't care finding himself turning around watching the younger boy running off. He was about to leave it alone, to not waste his time with such childish antics until he saw Tidus stick his tongue out at him and pull one of his eyelids down mocking him. "...I'll kill him!" Seifer yelled out giving in and chasing after him. He gained a bit of satisfaction, a smirk lifting to his lips as he saw the surprised look on Tidus's face when he pulled his gunblade out moving with determination. Hell, if he was going to pay back a certain blond idiot, he might as well do it full force.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Tidus moved quickly running the fastest he'd ever ran in his life. He was trying to break free from the hot heels Seifer knew he was feeling on his tail. He ran towards his friends, something that didn't slow Seifer down. "Run for your lives, there's a raving mad dog behind me!" he yelled out running past them looking like he was having too much fun. They didn't seem too worried about him though, Kairi and the others smiling and giggling cheerfully, probably the most they'd laughed since coming here.

_Good, at least they aren't moping...wait what did he just call me?_

"Who are you calling a raving mad dog?" Seifer yelled out swinging his sword just barely missing him. Of course he missed on purpose. He had no intentions of really hurting the younger male despite how annoying he was. But giving him a scare would at least teach him to learn his place.

"Gah, are you trying to kill me?" Tidus replied ducking and running as fast as his feet would carry him.

"No...I'd rather torture you nice and slow." He let the words slide out in a deep, menacing way to hopefully spark some fear into Tidus. It must have worked because there was a moment of hesitation in Tidus's movements before Seifer reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt stopping him from moving. "Gotcha."

Tidus stood there in shock for a moment before he threw his head back covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Aww man! Can't believe you caught me already!" It wasn't over though as Seifer found himself pushing Tidus back against the wall and grabbing the younger boy's wrists pinning them over his head, the boy looking up at him in surprise and confusion. "H-Hey! What are you do-"

"I'm paying you back by torturing you nice and slow," Seifer said unsure himself of what he was doing.

"This...T-this isn't sparring anymore," Tidus said, the voice coming out smaller now as he struggled to get loose only freezing when he felt Seifer pressed up against him. "We should g-get back to the others." True, they were the only ones here at the moment. There was no one in sight, everyone still back on the other side of the castle. He couldn't even explain what was happening, or why he saw Tidus's dorky face moving closer towards his own, or why he found the shocked look and hot, red cheeks adorable. But to see the annoying boy caught like this and actually quiet for once was pretty funny. Maybe he should just keep teasing him.

"S-Seifer? W-w-wait, d-d-don't-"

It seemed like fate chose that time to play a trick on both of them as the whole castle shook right at that moment, knocking Seifer off balance and causing him to fell into Tidus, their lips connecting. His own eyes went wide then not expecting this or for Tidus's eyes to glaze over in such a way. He would have questioned it more if not for the need to find out what had caused the castle to shake.

"What was that?" Seifer said pulling away and looking down the hall, giving himself a moment of distraction to pull himself together.

"I-I don't know," Tidus mumbled out, Seifer glancing back to find the other glancing around and rubbing at his lips with his sleeve, even though his cheeks were raving red much like his own must have been. "Should we check it out?"

"I will," Seifer said starting to head off down the hallway. "You go find the others and hide somewhere safe."

"Huh? W-wait a minute! I-" The words cut off as soon as Seifer looked back at him. Though it wasn't a menacing look at all, Tidus shut up quickly and glanced away clenching his hands at his sides. It wasn't hard to figure out what had caused the boy to go quiet. He was still thinking about that accidental kiss, much like how Seifer was having a hard time forgetting it.

"Right now, while Leon and Cloud are gone, I'm in charge. I don't need some wussy little kids getting in the way. So just do what I told you and go hide." When the boy didn't say anything else or move, Seifer sighed cursing his weaker side. He walked over, the sounds of his boots sounding off on the marble floor alerting Tidus who looked up quickly. He didn't even make it halfway to the young trainee before the other took off running past him, not even bothering to look back at him. The only words he left to him as he passed by him were 'jerk' before he was gone.

Sighing, Seifer looked back watching him run away before he turned and followed, though at a slower pace wondering what had happened. Things were moving pretty fast, not that he had intended for things to move at all. For some reason he felt a bit...protective of him. Well not just him, but the others as well. That's why he couldn't shake the bad feeling that something happened to the others at Hallow Bastion. The sudden tremors weren't helping things either.

_Guess I'll go talk to Merlin and see if there's anything worth investigating._

* * *

Mickey saw it about to happen, tried to get to Sora to save him, but he just wasn't fast enough. He was just as shocked as the rest of them watching as Cloud plunged the large sword into Sora's chest, the keyblade in Sora's hand dropping to the ground before vanishing. As soon as he saw it happen Mickey's his eyes flickered over to Riku. He saw the other run to Sora, kneeling down and grabbing him shaking his shoulders. When there was no response, he saw the change on Riku's face that screamed with murderous intent. It was a warning for Mickey, who was quick to move changing into his human form and chasing after the raging mad prince catching his arms just as he was about to swing the keyblade in his hand down on Cloud's unresponsive head. The keyblade had darkened as well being smothered by Riku's darkness.

"Calm down," Mickey said in his ear, his eyes looking over Riku's shoulder to Cloud seeing the blank stare returned to him. Cloud wasn't aware of what was going on. If he remembered correctly, he'd heard about this from King Ansem, about how Cloud had suddenly been taken over by the darkness and attacked everyone, including the king and queen. He knew… This wasn't Cloud's doing. By the tenseness in Riku's arms, he knew as well. They couldn't blame Cloud, not when he had no control over his actions.

The prince stood there, his shoulders quaking in what had to be frustration. He was angry…and probably more than a little upset. To have his best friend stabbed right in front of him not knowing if he was dead or alive, of course he'd be upset. It wasn't helping that the person who stabbed Sora was someone Riku had known almost his whole life.

Mickey glanced back, gesturing for Goofy to take Sora's body over to where Axel was. If there was a chance that Sora was still alive, at least Roxas could try to heal him enough to keep him alive until they got out of this mess. He saw Roxas following after Goofy, the keyblade already appearing in his hand. Leon and Auron had come over and words were exchanged between the two men and the livid prince. Whatever the result, Riku wasn't hearing it, his facial expression just as blank as Cloud's though his eyes kept glancing at him in rage. Leon and Auron seemed to come up to some agreement, both males nodding to each other before taking off heading towards Sephiroth prepared to fight again.

"The light brings only weakness," Xemnas said drawing Mickey's attention to him as he swung at him forcing him away from Riku. "That's why the light can be destroyed easily by the power of darkness. It feeds on the feelings of angry…of suspicion and fear…of hatred and despair, all the feelings that humans try to run from. It comes from the people of this world, of all worlds. That is why it can and will always defeat the light. No person can keep the darkness out of their hearts, including the prince."

"!" Mickey looked quickly at Riku as the words were spoken, seeing the darkness swirling once again around him. Even if Sora and Roxas had stopped the darkness not that long ago, Sora's most likely fatal injury followed by Riku's own anger had completely converted him once again. Riku swung at Cloud with the keyblade that seemed to be absorbing that darkness. Despite the anger in the action, Cloud didn't seem bothered deflecting the attack easily, though he made no move to attack in return. This only fueled Riku's anger more as he started swinging faster, moving quickly around Cloud trying and failing to find an opening as each time just before the hit could happen, Cloud would block it. Despite this obvious attack on him, Cloud still didn't retaliate with attacks, staring off ahead with those blank eyes filled with darkness.

It confused Mickey, at least for a moment until Cloud looked up and his eyes turned quickly towards Roxas who was standing over Sora, eyes closed in concentration and so much light coming from the keyblade, it was hard to fully see what he was doing. When he saw the hand clenching around the hilt of the sword, Mickey felt himself tense up realizing what was happening now.

_He's attacking the source of light directly._

That must have been the reason he had attacked the king and queen so long ago at Kingdom Hearts. He was programmed, more or less, to attack the light. Essentially, the family of Kingdom Hearts held the most light within them in all the worlds which made Roxas and Sora targets as well. That's why he didn't respond to Riku's anger, the anger that was only fueled by the darkness. Darkness was not a threat to him. It was, at this time, a welcoming companion. Honestly, it was a good thing that Leon and Auron weren't seeing this. They'd abandon their battle with Sephiroth in a heartbeat if they saw what was going on.

When Cloud turned to move, Mickey was quick trying to get to him only to have his way blocked again by Xemnas. "You cannot save the light. Give up now and join the darkness."

"Sorry," Mickey said holding out his keyblade, even as he felt himself surrounded by the other two copies. He almost smirked as he tilted his head back to slang his bangs from his eyes. "Even if I do have darkness inside my heart, I won't be allowing you to get what you want." He moved at the same time as Xemnas ran towards him, the two of them clashing once again.

* * *

Leon started to take a step towards Sephiroth before he felt the hand stopping him by landing on his shoulder.

"We can't beat him like this." Leon turned looking at Auron confused. It didn't faze Auron though as he gave a confident smile and rested his other hand on Leon's shoulder. "Just…trust what I am about to do. I'm going to lend you a bit of my power."

Leon took a moment to evaluate the other male before he finally relented giving him a nod. He wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to borrow power from Auron but apparently the other knew something about it as he closed his eyes concentrating his energy. The hand on his shoulder caught Leon's attention as he looked down at it seeing the pulsing glow of red light surrounding it. He could feel the warmth flowing into him, could feel his power growing inside him, the red light mixing with his own blue light to encircle him in a purple haze. It was...electrifying.

"_Can you hear my voice." _Leon looked up frowning when he saw Auron staring at him. His mouth hadn't moved. Was the voice inside his head then?

_Yeah, I can hear you._

He thought the words, but apparently it was enough as Auron gave a nod of his head as if relieved to hear his unspoken voice.

"_Good. In this way, you'll be able to feel my actions and act accordingly. If we move together and act together, we should be able to take Sephiroth and Xemnas down."_

_Exactly what did you just do?_

The answer glimmered before him for a moment as he looked and noticed that the time based on the hourglass that determined Auron's lifespan was even less.

_"It's exactly as you think. I used my life's energy to help boost our power."_

_But you're just bringing yourself to an early grave!_

_"If it's to save Cloud's life, I don't mind it. Just promise you'll take good care of him once I'm gone. Besides…there's no reason to hold back the inevitable."_

Leon hesitated before he gave a brief nod of acknowledgement. Even if he didn't agree on it, even if his dying was for a good cause, Leon couldn't fully approve of it. He couldn't approve of it because he knew that if Cloud knew Auron died protecting him, he wouldn't forgive himself. Leon had been around Cloud long enough to know this, so he wanted to believe anyway.

"_Let's defeat Sephiroth here and now."_

There was nothing that could be said against that one line. Right now…they needed to take care of Sephiroth and worry about everything else later.

The one eyed male turned with Leon as one to look at the enemy, prepared to go for one last hurrah.

TBC...

I swear this story feels like it has DBZ syndromes, what with all the long battles that seriously did not want to end for me no matter how hard I tried :grunt of frustration: RAWR!


	33. Princely Garbs 33

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: I have so got to start reviewing these the day before. Blah, kinda hard to do when you're sleepy from work and homework. x.x

* * *

Princely Garbs 33

"Is that the Door to Light?" Seifer asked, frowning and staring at the door as Merlin, Aerith, and he felt the rumbling going through the castle again, the door closing a few more inches.

"It is," Merlin replied calmly lightly stroking his long white beard. "But why it is closing is very mysterious."

"It's not just that," Aerith added in just as a mist of darkness appeared blending in with the light before fading away again. She moved forward a couple of steps, staring into the light before looking back at the others, looking a bit confused. "The light's fading away too."

"Well, I've only ever seen the door once myself," Merlin said clearing his throat and stepping forward, his blue robes swaying around him as he walked. He felt his hat sliding down on his head and had to push it up to keep it from falling off. "It was very bright then, so bright that you didn't even need candles to keep this place lit." However, from what he had heard from Auron when he had arrived at Radiant Garden with Cloud many years ago, the door was closed tight. Auron had told Merlin that there was a lock over the door, one he'd never seen before, swarming with darkness.

"_It must have happened right after the king had died," _Auron had said to him. He assumed that maybe the darkness had been the thing to lock it, but what if it had something to do with the king's death? It would explain the sudden change to the door without there being a single presence around to change it. Then if that was the case, did something happen to one of the princes of Kingdom Hearts? He dearly hoped he was wrong….

"Let's continue to observe it," Merlin said folding his arms behind his back. "Meanwhile, I'll check with Cid to see if anything's changed."

"Oh that's right," Aerith said frowning. "You're not able to teleport directly where Sora and the others are right?"

"I'm afraid not, little lady." Merlin said smiling to try to take the edge off the situation. "Whatever powers of darkness are in that castle, I can't do anything without my own powers being sucked right out of me. You can feel the pressure even when you're not that close to it."

"This is stupid!" Seifer yelled out slamming his fist into the wall beside him, looking as frustrated as Merlin felt. "Why can't we just bust in and take them all out?"

"For the same reason that I can't get inside. From what Cid has told me, a large shadowy dome had appeared over Hallow Bastion right after Sora and Roxas had went in. Apparently, Sephiroth does not want to be interrupted in this fight."

"Damn it," Seifer yelled out shoving his hands into his pockets to keep from punching anything else. He'd been frustrated for a while now, probably feeling the effects of restlessness the rest of them felt. They wanted to help…but there was nothing for them to do when they couldn't even get inside.

"Though there is one possibility," Merlin said to spark some motivation. "The more energy the Door of Light can produce, the better the chances it can negate the effects of darkness."

"I guess it's better than nothing." Seifer walked over to him, stopping in front of him, mouth set in determination as he stared up at him. "How do we get it to do that?" He was impatient, but Merlin had never been one to dislike a kid's spunk.

"The source of light comes from inside of us. What makes Sora and Roxas different is the amount of light they have inside of them. It's strong…very strong. Even when Roxas was pushed over to the darkness, the light had only dimmed a bit." It would explain why it was so easy for him to join them. "However, now that they're both awakened to their light, it feeds on them."

"And this helps us…how?"

"If you would only listen, you'll hear what it is we need to do. Light doesn't only come from the family of Kingdom Hearts, though they provide a lot of it. It also comes from the people around us, from everyone. Whenever you feel a positive feeling like, joy, fun, happiness, laughter, even playfulness, it will help the light to grow. The light makes us stronger...therefore if we feed it more light, we would very certainly become stronger. The same could be said for both twins of Kingdom Hearts."

When Seifer opened up his mouth to speak, Merlin quickly held up his finger to silence him. It seemed to prove effective because Seifer's mouth slipped shut again before frowning. At least he would listen now.

"The same can be said of darkness as well," he continued. "Feelings of sorrow, anger, anxiety, regret, and guilt make the darkness in people grow, sometimes to the point of losing themselves to it and doing things they would not normally do. There is where the heartless comes from. When people lose the light of their hearts, they can become nothing more than darkness, heartless beings desperate to steal the light from others to survive.

"So," Merlin continued cutting Seifer off as soon as he saw the other's mouth opening again. "If you can make enough people happy, laughing, and dancing or what have you, we can help keep the door open and maybe even knock down the force field at the same time." Seifer seemed to hesitate when Merlin went silent, opening his mouth and closing it again and, when Merlin didn't react, finally starting to ask his question.

"That's all it takes huh?" Seifer asked, with only a bit of skeptics. When he saw Merlin's nod and smile, it only took him a moment before he was turning and running off heading up the steps.

"Where are you going?" Aerith asked after him watching him disappearing up the steps.

"To make some idiots dance!" Seifer yelled back already out of sight. The room was silent a moment, before Aerith turned around looking at the door again. Not that Merlin blamed her, it was intriguing.

"So…is it true?" Aerith asked tilting her head curiously as Merlin looked at her. "Will it help the light?"

"It might help it a little," Merlin said smiling a bit, not wanting her to see how worried he really was. "At the very least it might help everyone to keep their minds off bad things even for a little bit."

"I see…" Aerith smiled at him, making him think of a granddaughter he'd never had. He was sure that if he had one though, she would be just like this little lady. "Well, it is a kind thought anyway."

"However, that is not to say it won't work, but we would need far more people than what has been gathered here at the castle. But we can always hope that everyone in the world and across the galaxy feels happy at the same time," Merlin said grinning a bit at the look she gave him. She seemed content with the words whether they were true or not. It was a hopeful wish anyway. Sighing, Merlin turned again and looked up into the Door of Light seeing the door closing a few more inches. "If we want to survive, that's all we can do is hope."

* * *

Leon rested his sword against his shoulder, the same as how Auron was doing right at that moment himself. He could feel the power running through him and yet he felt like he was in more control of it. The energy coursing through his veins felt as if it had calmed significantly while keeping with the same power. He'd even gotten used to the presence of Auron being inside of his mind, even though the man was standing beside him looking just as ready to right at he did.

Auron looked confident. Leon didn't blame him. He was feeling just as buffed up as well. Their enemy was in front of them, standing there smirking and looking as though he had all the time in the world. Maybe he did. It didn't seem like he was fighting against the clock to save the world. Which he wasn't.

_We're going to win this battle, _Leon thought to himself. _I can't let it end like this. I won't leave Cloud like this... I will protect everyone. Cloud…I should never have left him alone. This is all my fault. I'm too weak…even to protect Sora. No...I can't act like this. I'm strong now…I have to-_

"_Guess Cloud was right when he said you think too much."_

Leon grunted giving Auron one of his famous glares. Auron wasn't fazed.

"_Stop thinking so much and concentrate." _Leon's body jumped back on its own accord just as Sephiroth swung the sword down barely missing him as his body hovered over head, Auron moving in to strike him.

"Hmph," Sephiroth grunted out smirking as he looked up at Leon, staring at him so deeply it was like he could see his soul. "I am impressed," he said moving back from Auron's attack but not before the sword grazed his arm.

"?" Leon frowned, relaxing his hold on the gunblade as he looked down at Sephiroth starting to fall towards him. It felt…different? Leon's movements, his actions in general, felt like they were stronger. At the same time he seemed to be following along with Auron's movement, feeling as if all his actions were correlating with the other man. "Impressed by what?"

"By your cooperation," Sephiroth said. "Even if it will not help you to survive in the long run."

"Say what you will," Auron said as Leon was coming down on Sephiroth with his sword as soon as the king of darkness moved to attack the older soldier. "But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to defeat you, even if it means ending my life sooner than expected."

"Fair enough," Sephiroth said holding his hand up and creating a black shield of darkness that Leon bounced off of just before he could hit him. "But do you really think you can live long enough to defeat me?"

"There's no way for us to know but to try." Leon's lips twitched into a smirk as Auron went to attack again.

"Then we'll find out once your head is sent rolling from your dead bodies."

* * *

"Dude, all of you suck right now," Seifer grumbled out looking and feeling frustrated. "Smile more! Try to put some effort into it you wussies!" The group of the youngsters stood with fake smiles, a confused look on their faces at how persistent Seifer must have seemed to them.

Normally he'd be more laid back if not a bit more in the rude department with some of his comments. But this time, he had a purpose for being the motivated, yet still rude kind of guy. They needed to get as many smiles and laughter and happiness that they could so they could get enough positive energy to help keep the Door to Light open and hopefully knock down the force field. It probably didn't help that it was pretty late at night and everyone was tired or too worried and anxious to be thinking about happy thoughts. He'd already full blown given up on the adults leaving him with only the teenagers and a few tinier kids, some of whom were enjoying picking their noses. Granted that Kairi and the others were asked - forced - to join in, the only person under the age of 18 that wasn't present was Tidus.

_Not that I care about that wuss or anything._

Never mind the fact that he went through a brief interrogation of the others as to the whereabouts of the blond boy. From the sounds of things, Tidus hadn't returned to the room since their encounter. The last thing any of them remembered was Seifer changing after him with his sword. It didn't help that after that statement every one of them gave Seifer a suspicious look, a look that Seifer ignored because there was no way he could be considered to be guilty of anything.

_What, do they think I killed him and hid the body?_

It did bother him that the boy didn't return, though he told himself that the reason was because he needed more bodies to help make the Door to Light stay open. Tidus was…probably the most cheerful of the group not counting Selphie's peppy attitude. With him around, combined with Selphie, getting that positive energy would be much faster. It would have helped if Sora was there too but they had to work with what they had.

_Not to mention if Sora was here we wouldn't have to go through with all this crap._

It was still pretty surprising, finding out that Sora was a prince of some mysterious, ghost kingdom and that he had the power to save them all from the darkness. Not that Seifer believed himself capable of being overpowered by the darkness.

"Sorry I'm late-whoa what's going on here?" Tidus walked into the room, drawing attention to himself by the sudden sound of his voice. At least, that's what went through Seifer's mind even though he didn't turn to look at the younger boy. It was because he didn't look that he missed the frown that came across Tidus's face before he came over to join them.

"Meanie face Seifer is being all weird," Selphie said pouting for only a moment before sticking her tongue out at him.

_What are you? Two?_

"Whatever, just get over there and smile with the rest of them," Seifer said looking at Tidus and finding the other staring at him before he found himself turning away and covering a hand over his mouth. He could feel the rapid beating in his chest and the heat in his cheeks. His palms felt sweaty too.

_Why the hell is my body reacting like this?_

When he looked again, he was relieved to find Tidus's attention elsewhere before that relief turned to frustration when he saw Tidus laughing at one of Wakka's jokes.

_Damn it!_

"Pay attention!" Something about the group of them going to attention with their arms at their sides trying to look serious actually made Seifer have to force himself not to burst out laughing.

_What a bunch of dorks._

"Smile more," Seifer said, the words coming out softer than he intended. Even the littler children were standing at attention and trying not to fidget. "We're doing this to help Sora and the others aren't we?" At the surprised looks he got, maybe because he forgot to mention that this was to help Sora, Seifer frowned pulling forth his gunblade and pointing it towards them. "Come on! Dance and smile! Do something so I can get in there and kick-"

"Seifer, behind you!" Selphie yelled out in a panic giving Seifer just enough time to dodge out of the way before a heartless slashed at him with its long nails. Rolling to his feet, Seifer quickly moved into a defensive pose and frowned when he saw what had attacked him.

_Heartless? Here?_

"Seifer, the window!' When he looked, he swore he was about ready to drop his weapon. Darkness covered the whole window, not because it was night time but because of the little suckers crawling all over it. He looked seeing the one that had got into the room coming towards him and quickly moved his sword slashing it in two.

"We have to go! Move it!" He ran to the door first, stepping out and looking down the hall seeing nothing but a mass of darkness moving towards them. "Crap, we can't go that way."

"Wow, look at them all," Tidus said from beside him looking in awe and possibly fear at all the heartless moving down the hallway towards the room.

"Come on, we have to go!" Seifer started running in the opposite direction of the heartless leading the group of kids. As he lead the way Tidus stayed in the back with his wooden sword in a vice grip to protect the rear. Seifer didn't want to admit it bothered him that Tidus was out of his protective circle. He kept the younger children in front with him to keep an eye on them, at least until they stopped and retrieved the adults from the next room who were more than happy to keep watch of the kids.

Despite the fact that Seifer was younger than the group of adults, he didn't have any problems making them listen or follow orders. It probably had to do with the well known fact that he had been close to becoming a higher up officer himself before their kingdom had been invaded by the darkness. He'd proved himself capable in the attack on Radiant Garden as well. These people trusted him with their lives and he was willing to do what it takes to keep it that way.

_Wait...something's wrong..._

Seifer squint his eyes looking up ahead seeing the swirling mass of darkness headed their way before he skidded to a halt, some of the people following bumping into him. "This isn't good," Seifer said frowning. He turned seeing the hall leading to the Door to Light and stood beside it quickly ushering everyone to go down the hall. It would be a dead end, but he was hoping that they'd be able to go into the door and hopefully to someplace a lot safer than this. It wasn't like they had the option to go anywhere else right now anyway.

"Just keep going down the steps," Seifer guided keeping his voice calm even as he was eyeing the mass of heartless getting closer to them down the hall. "Merlin should be there to help assist you."

With the heartless coming from both sides, they didn't need much encouragement as they started moving filing through to the open staircase, managing to stay calm but to move with a sense of urgency. He saw Tidus coming towards him, looking back at the heartless which turned out to be a bad idea considering it caused him to trip and fall on his face. The heartless seemed to react to the dummy's clumsiness as they started to move faster suddenly being almost on top of Tidus's downed form.

"Owowowow..."

_That moron!_

Seifer reacted instantly, running over and picking Tidus up easily throwing the younger, lighter boy over his shoulder like a bag of flour. Just as fast as he had been to get to Tidus, he was turning and running back to the hall. Even though he couldn't hear the heartless moving behind him he knew they were right on his heels. When they had a target in their sights, they were not quick to give up on a chase. Arms were reaching through the walls at his sides trying to grab them to stop them. He was sure the hallway had darkened as well as if the light from it was being soaked in by the darkness.

The darkness in front of him was getting close, Seifer only barely managing to slip into the hallway before the two sides collided. It didn't slow them down, the massive blob following them down the steps, determined not to let their prey get away.

"You might want to speed it up a bit, Seifer, cause they're right on our tail!" Tidus yelled into his ear considering that his head was collateral to it.

"Shut up! I'm the oldest! I know what I'm doing!" Seifer yelled back, his hand coming to rest on Tidus's butt when he felt the other sliding slightly. He picked up the pace panting heavily in the darkness barely able to see the light in front of them. With danger licking literally right on his heels, there was nothing he could do about moving his hand without dropping his young associate. As much as he hated to admit it...it was a warm butt.

_Damn it, Seifer! Stop thinking about it! It's not that good of a butt!_

It was that good of a butt. It was soft...squishy...easily grabbed...and warm. And touching something that was kept secret and hidden and...Well it was soft for guy's butt anyway. Not that he'd touched another guy's butt before.

_I'm still thinking about it! I'm getting as bad as Leon with all this thinking!_

"Seifer? Hey Seifer! SEEEIIIFERRR!" Seifer snapped out of it, turning his head finding Tidus's face right in front of his, their noses even brushing together. It lasted a second, staring into each other's eyes, feeling the soft brush of the other's breath over his lips, before he...let go of the butt he'd been squeezing dropping Tidus unceremoniously on the floor.

"Ow! Damn it, Seifer, that hurt!" Seifer ignored him and turned towards the door quickly not to hide the blush on his face or anything, but to see if they were still being pursued.

He could see the creatures of darkness trying to come under the door only to quickly shy away from the light coming in through the semi-open Door of Light. He couldn't even remember running into the room where the others were. Was he really in that much of a daze to ignore such an important fact? The room itself seemed a lot dimmer than the last time he'd come inside. Looking at the door, he could see why. The door was closed just enough to keep the room lit but not enough for any of them to squeeze through.

_...There's no way we can get though that small space. The door closed this much already?_

"Well I'm glad to see everyone could make it in safely," Merlin said coming over to stand besides Seifer. "You made a good choice coming here. The darkness can't handle the light or at least for as long as the door stays open anyway."

"So we're pretty much stuck here then."

"That's about the size of it," Merlin commented as he rubbed at his beard. "At least until Sora and the others can defeat the darkness."

"I see." Well, it was a big step down from what they had been planning. "Ok!" Seifer yelled out turning to look at them, making sure to avoid eye contact with Tidus. They were all staring at the door of light in awe...not that Seifer could blame them...that was a huge door. "Let's get those smiles and laughter going so we can keep this door open," Seifer continued, ignoring the looks they all gave him like he was crazy...once again. These people... Was he going to have to smack every last one of them before they listened to him and smiled?

"We should do what he says," Aerith said coming to stand beside him and giving a gentle smile to the group of them. "After all, this is to help Sora and prince Riku, is it not?" There were some murmurs from among the group of people before Tidus ran over standing on the other side of Seifer and giving him a quick glance before he looked at everyone. Even standing this close to the smaller boy was making Seifer's heart beat faster. Damn it!

"Come on," Tidus yelled out trying to sound excited, even stomping his foot and placing a hand on his hip. "What good is it sitting around scared of the dark? Let's show them how strong the people of Radiant Garden really are!"

"He's right!" Kairi agreed going to join them. "We should do everything we can t help the others and show them that they don't have to worry about us!"

"Let's have a festival!" Selphie chimed in jumping up and down cheerfully.

"With what? We have no instruments."

"Did you forget I'm a magician?" Merlin put in before waving a hand in the air, a flute materializing in the air. "Let's play some music, young'uns!"

TBC…

Hmm….well, all I can say is here it is!


	34. Princely Garbs 34

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: Yip…it be another update of sorts…now back to my writing homework I keep skipping over these past two weeks… (snickers)

* * *

Princely Garbs 34

The darkness was surrounding him. It taunted him, teased him, and left him with the feelings of abandonment. It had taken shape and encapsulated him suffocating him. It stole away the little amount of light he had left as soon as he had seen himself stab Sora through with the sword. He had been aware, broken through to the light in that brief moment only to find himself in the same situation his lack of memories had left him before.

He'd had King Tsunami dying on the edge of his blade and now the same was being done to his son. He was killing the royal family and he was powerless to stop it. He was nothing more than a monster. No he was worse than a monster. He was heartless.

The forms around Cloud stared at him accusingly with glowing yellow eyes looking like shadows of his friends and comrades, the same ones he had betrayed. Even though no sound came from their moving lips, Cloud was able to hear them clearly. Cloud covered his head trying to hide from the voices but it did no good. He could still hear them. He could hear every last one of them.

"_Murderer…"-Auron_

"_Traitor…" –Leon_

"_Damn idiot…"-Cid_

"_I trusted you…"-Riku_

"_Why did you kill me?"-King Tsunami_

"_To think I believed in you…"-Seifer_

"_Worthless…." –Sora_

The words hit him hard. Each was like a blow to his body, his form on its knees and curling in on itself trying to defend against the words. He could feel the heat of angry, condemning eyes staring at him, determined to plague him for the rest of what was left of his wretched life.

"_Useless…."_

"_Disgusting…."_

"_Weak…"_

"_A waste of life…"_

"_Trash…"_

Yes…he was useless. He was a disgusting weakling that couldn't even protect his friends. He was rubbish that didn't deserve the happiness he'd been given.

"_Pathetic loser…Soulless till the end…"_

"_Heartless mutt…A cold hearted, blood thirsty killer…."_

"_No one likes you…everyone hates you…"_

"_A plague on our lives…"_

"_Should never have been born…"_

"_Should have been the one to die…"_

"_Go die…"_

"_Die…"_

"_Take your life…"_

"_Destroyer…"_

"_To think we ever trusted you…"_

"_To think we wanted to believe in you…"_

"_To think we wanted to be like you…"_

"…I still want to be like you." The suddenness of the optimistic voice reaching his ears made Cloud lifted his head. He found the image of Sora in front of him, not like the others that were shadows of their former selves, but in the form Cloud was familiar with. His body, unlike the others, was glowing almost sparkling with a light that made the eerie shades of their friends shy away.

"It's not just me," Sora continued giving one of his cheesy smiles as he rested his hands behind his head. "But the others admire and respect you as well. Whatever happened in the past was because of Sephiroth. It's not your fault." He reached down resting his hand on Cloud's head.

_It's not….my fault?_

The weight was lifted, the darkness surrounding him receding as the horrid image of his friends disappeared one by one to resemble their true selves. There were no glares, no accusing looks or angry disgusted eyes, only smiles and looks of relief.

"You're not alone," Sora reassured him reaching down and helping Cloud to stand, the smile gentle. "We're here with you. All of us."

"But-" Despite the comforting words, Cloud couldn't help feeling the guilt in his heart. "I killed you! I killed your father and mother! I caused the downfall of Kingdom Hearts and the slaughter at Radiant Garden!" The guilt was eating at him, the darkness etching close again wanting to take over, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Hey, it's ok," Sora said patting the back of his hand. "You're human, right? Besides, it's not like you wanted to do it. The real person at fault is Sephiroth. Even the Organization was being controlled by him."

"I can't…I mean…aren't you just in my imagination?" Sora had already turned and kneeled down, confusing Cloud even more before the gray wolf came from out of the surrounding darkness. He wandered over to Sora, growling slightly and wiggling his nose cautiously smelling at the hand.

"Sora, don't-" Cloud started before Sora quickly interrupted him.

"It's ok. I think he's just lonely." Sora smiled over his shoulder at Cloud before looking at the wolf and petting him behind the ears. "He's a part of you, isn't he? This wolf." The wolf seemed pretty content himself, panting and wagging his tail, apparently feeling satisfied enough not to say anything.

"A part of me?"

"He tried to protect you," Sora said finally standing and looking at him. "He made sure you didn't have any bad memories, so that this wouldn't happen to you. He's still protecting you even now."

Sora paused looking down at the wolf giving it a gentle smile. "Besides, everyone misses you. We all want you to come back. I think Leon does especially."

"But…" Cloud paused when Sora started to give off that big grin of his, the big blue eyes staring up at him cheerfully, confidently, looking like a perfect duplicate of his father, King Tsunami. When he looked past Sora he saw Roxas standing there with arms folded nodding his head in agreement with a small smile on his lips and the same sparkling light around his body.

"Let's go," Sora said as he grabbed hold of Cloud's hand starting to pull him back towards his brother. "Let's go back to everyone."

* * *

"Nngh…" Roxas panted holding himself kneeling with a hand as he tried to keep his powers flowing to help heal Sora. It was tough and exhausting. Had he ever been this tired in the Organization? If he had he probably wouldn't have known with his emotions blocked out.

"Roxas!" Donald yelled out.

"Don't overdo it, hyuk!" Roxas glanced over at them seeing their worried eyes on him, ready to help should he collapse. Goofy was standing with his shield protecting against any onslaughts as Donald kept up the defensive shield around them looking as drained as Roxas felt. Considering how powerful Xemnas and Sephiroth were, the shield was probably useless against them. But it at least made Roxas feel like they were safe.

"Thanks, I'll be fine," Roxas reassured smiling tiredly before looking down at Sora again, seeing his brother starting to breathe a little better. Sora himself looked pale but Roxas was at least a little less anxious now that he was a hundred percent sure Sora was alive and going to be ok. It was brief, but the two of them had met deep in Cloud's mind. The small adventure; however, had worn Roxas out, that combined with healing Sora anyway. Maybe that was why he felt like he could pass out at any moment. Of course he knew that he'd lost consciousness during his meeting with Sora and Cloud. Luckily, Donald and Goofy didn't seem to have noticed.

"Mm…" Sora frowned a bit, turning his head, enough to break Roxas from his concentration. "Rox…as…."

"Sora!" yelled the chorus of voices from those around him.

"You're ok!" Roxas yelled out, realizing he needed to physical see Sora alive and moving to fully believe it. With all the excitement over with, he felt like all of his energy had been drained from him, his body leaning to the side as he started to pass out.

"Roxas!" Donald and Goofy yelled out starting to jump up.

"I'm...I'm ok," Roxas said smiling a bit as he forced himself to stay firm. He wouldn't last much longer. His exhaustion was starting to take its toll on him. He felt hands on his shoulders steadying him and looked up seeing Sora sitting before him and smiling at him. It felt weird to know just how connected they were with each other. They were siblings after all.

"Thanks for saving me," Sora said reaching up ruffling his hair a bit. It felt nice making him wonder if this was what it was like to have a brother, to have a caring family. If so then he could get used to this. "You can rest now." He felt his eyes starting to close at the words. He wished he could help more, to help protect his friends. He didn't have enough energy for that, though, not right now anyway.

"I guess…I can leave it…in your hands…for now…" Roxas slumped forward, falling unconscious into the comforting arms of his brother.

* * *

Riku could only stare at the figure standing in front of him blocking the attack he had set on path for Cloud. The darkness he felt started to trickle out of his body slowly. He wasn't sure if that was because of the keyblade that deflected the attack on his own dark blade or if it was caused by the sight of the brunette standing in front of him alive.

"Sora…?" The younger boy was holding Cloud's prone body to him. Cloud had passed out though the reason why was unknown to Riku. Sora eased the older male down to the ground before he looked up at Riku. Riku felt guilty with the blue eyes staring at him. He glanced away from the eyes, clenching his hands at his sides. He felt angry at himself for letting the darkness take over again like it had. How had he let that happen again? When did the darkness take over? Why was he so weak to it?

"It's ok…" Sora said softly as he reached out letting his keyblade go and wrapped his arms around Riku pulling him close. "I'm ok now." He tensed not sure if he should believe this was real. This had happened before. No, Sora wasn't alive after an injury like that. He wouldn't allow himself to be tricked, not again. "Riku…I'm alive."

Riku's body trembled before he broke down in a quiet sob just holding the younger to him, clenching hold of his shirt as if afraid he'd leave him again. He could feel the beating of Sora's heart against his own countering beats. Whatever darkness he had built up inside him, dissipated right then. The feeling of relief and joy were strong in his heart.

"Sora…I…." He was at a loss of words, instead just letting what he started to say die off there. There were things he wanted to say, things he needed to get off his chest. But right now wasn't the time for that.

"Let's finish this," Sora said apparently thinking the same thing as Riku. Sora pulled back and looked up at Riku with fired determination giving Riku all the will power he needed to continue fighting. "Let's take him down so he never hurts anyone ever again!"

Riku nodded his head, his own eyes hardening in preparation of the battle. They had to make this count. If they could stop them now, they could finish all these pointless battles. "Yeah…let's stop the darkness from spreading." Sora smiled that dorky grin that made Riku's heart skip before turning to looking down at Cloud.

"He'll be ok for now," Sora said confidently, smiling. He looked towards where Mickey was fighting against Xemnas, panting out of breath, tired, sweaty and back in his weaker, human form before he frowned slightly. "I promise…" Sora said clenching his hands at his side, "I will do everything in my power to protect my friends. So never give up, ok?" Sora looked at Riku at that moment and the other almost glanced away at the intensity of the stare. Did he really deserve to have such a good person near him? "I don't want any of my friends to die…I don't want you to die."

Riku frowned but he nodded his head in agreement, not sure how to exactly interpret the last few words. He admitted at least that he didn't want anyone to die either, especially Sora. And yet he had lost his cool and lashed out at Cloud who, at the time, was just a victim controlled by the darkness. They let the darkness control them and turn them against each other.

_I'm a fool._

"Riku!" A hand was held out to him and he looked up at the goofy look on Sora's face. "Let's fight together so that we can laugh and play together again!" Riku blinked then grinned and reached up grabbing the warm hand and feeling himself being pulled out from the dark cloud that had been surrounding. Behind him on the ground, Cloud started to gain consciously. Sora turned away from Riku for a moment to kneel down and help Cloud to sit up.

"Cloud, how are you feeling?" Sora asked him, Riku watching as Cloud put a hand to his head trying to get himself together, no doubt. He looked weary and pale. But the darkness did have that effect on people if they managed to escape. Riku took it from experience. Even now he wasn't fully at a hundred percent. His arms were shaky. He was tired, they were all tired. But they'd never be able to rest if they didn't finish off Sephiroth and Ansem.

"I'm…fine now," Cloud said slowly frowning and looking up at the both of them, giving Riku a sense of relief to know he was back in his right mind. "…Sorry about-"

Sora cut him off quickly with a shake of his head as he stood. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault. Let's all work together to take them down."

"Alright." Cloud moved to one knee reaching up to take one of Sora's hands and closed his eyes bowing his head. "I promise…I will do everything in my power to protect you….your highness." Cloud pulled the hand to his forehead. The look on Sora's face was priceless, a combination of surprise and embarrassment, a very amusing image. The expression on Sora's face changed to a small smile as he reached down grabbing both of Cloud's hands and pulling him up to his feet, looking up at him with that cheesy grin. "And I promise to protect all of my friends. So never give up, ok? I don't want to lose any more people important to me." The three nodded their heads in agreement. They had to fight. They couldn't lose now…they had to protect everyone. "Now, let's go finish this!"

* * *

As soon as he took his first step, Mickey felt an arm go across his chest stopping him in his tracks. He saw both Riku and Cloud running past him and attacking Xemnas at the same time. A look of confusion had lifted to Mickey's face at the sight. Had the two managed to fight off the darkness somehow?

The voice that spoke to him next gave him a feeling of relief.

"Leave this to us," Sora said looking confident, and holding his glowing keyblade relieving Mickey of some of his pain.

"Sora…" Mickey winced closing one eye but not allowing himself to give into his pain. His arm and legs hurt but at least now some of that pain was going away thanks to the young prince. He was still surprised, and happy, to see Sora standing before him looking worst for wear but not dead. "How…"

"We're going to protect our friends no matter what."

"I think….that's a good enough reason." Sora laughed at that before grinning again. "Hang tight. We'll be right back."

* * *

_This is it. This is how I'm going to die, right here in a dark room surrounded by dummies and eaten alive by these stupid heartless things._

Seifer frowned at the thought even as he pulled his foot back as one of the Heartless reached out trying to grab him. The Door to Light had closed a significant amount, even with all the effort they put into singing and dancing which had started to work really well at first.

But then just a few moments ago, the door closed rapid leaving only a crack left where a stream of light shot out reaching a small corner, the same corner that everyone was huddled up in now for protection. As soon as the light shrunk, the creatures of darkness started to stream in, most able to slide under the door in the shadows while the bigger beast beat on the door before smashing their way in. There was no sound otherwise, nothing to even indicate the beast were there besides the glowing yellow eyes that surrounded them in the dark. It was creepy, not to mention annoying.

He was doing his best, standing guard against the beast as he held his sword at the ready. He was using the help of Merlin's spell as the magician was using it to manipulate the light and stretch it to give them at least a little more leeway in defending themselves. Even some adults were helping, using broken pieces of furniture as weapons to help protect the younger kids. Tidus was behind him, staring at him from his place with the older kids. He could feel the heat of his stare sure he was angry that he'd been told he couldn't help.

Seifer was the only trained soldier there. It'd be a cold day in hell before he'd like a little snot-nosed kid try and be a hero. Especially when said kid was still considered to be something of a cadet. He couldn't let someone that inexperienced be placed in such a dangerous situation. He wasn't that much of a bastard.

"Come on!" Seifer yelled out and took his sword swinging at the hands trying to grabble at him from the edges of darkness. "If you want me so bad, then come get me!" The creatures tried futilely, unable to pass by into the light to receive their prize without burning and exploding into a puff of smoke.

This couldn't go on forever. He was getting tired and he was sure Merlin was too. Magic could take a lot of out of a person. Merlin wasn't young either. As soon as the magic ran out there was a possibility they'd be overtaken. Seifer definitely would be the first to go seeing as he was the closest to the beast.

The ground suddenly started to rumble harshly provoking a scream from the children and forcing Seifer to a knee to keep from tumbling over. He used his sword to brace himself against the shaking, glaring at the heartless that seemed to hesitate before backing away slightly. What the…

"What the hell is going on now?" he yelled out angrily.

"Seifer, look! The door!" He looked at the door, his eyes widening as he saw it slowly opening up again. The light was growing stronger and splashing its rays on them burning the nearby heartless that were intent on getting them. It warmth the room which seemed to give off a chill since the heartless had shown up.

"What the…why now all of a sudden?"

"Does it matter?" Tidus yelled out getting excited to see the tables turning. The heartless weren't happy, shying away from the light and moving back retreating to the safety of the darkness. It served them right for trying to attack the likes of Seifer. "As long as it's helping us, I'm all for whatever happens. They can even dump a bucket of garbage on Seifer's head and I wouldn't mind." Seifer glared at him.

_Damn it….that smart mouth squishy butt brat…_

"Well, at least for now we're safe!" Selphie yelled out giggling and clapping happily. "It must have been our music."

"You mean lack of talent," Seifer said under his breath still sulking over what Tidus said. He walked over to the Door of Light, squinting and shielding his eyes against the brightness.

He hadn't noticed it before but now that he was so close, he was certain he could hear voices coming from the door.

"Where does this door lead?" Seifer asked as he turned looking at Merlin. He'd wondered about it before but with the door being shut enough that no one could squeeze through, it'd been pushed further back in his mind. It would have been pointless to know, not with having to stay alive and away from the heartless.

Now he was sure he was hearing Sora and Roxas's voices…along with a few others he didn't recognize.

"Well…I'm not quite sure," Merlin said slowly. "I know the one in the king's room leads to Magic Kingdom but when it comes to the Door of Light well…who knows."

"I hear voices," Seifer's said slowly, not really sure he was hearing them.

"Heh." Tidus laughed at that grinning at him. "He's going nuts."

"Shut up, moron," Seifer said glaring at him and surprised to see the other smiling at him cheerfully now. Cheeky bi-polar bastard. "I'm talking about from the door."

"Hm…interesting." Merlin walked over holding his ear close to the door. "Yep…those would be voices."

"It sounds like Sora and Roxas."

"Whoa, let me hear!" Tidus pushed his way to the front stopping beside Seifer, listening. "….! Hey you're right! I can hear voices!"

"It seems we may just be able to offer up our support after all." Merlin pulled on his beard as he stared up at the large door. "Because if we can hear them, they can probably hear us."

"I like that idea!" Tidus cupped both his hands over his mouth. "Sora! Riku! Beat them up good!"

Seifer smacked the back of his head. Tidus pouted sticking his tongue out at him even as he rubbed his sore head. "Idiot! Don't just yell random stupid stuff into there!"

"_Did I just hear Seifer?"-_Sora

"_That's not important right now. Stay focused, Sora."_ -Riku

_Those damn…._

"Well that answers that." Tidus smiled up at him looking smug. It gave Seifer an urge to hit him again. "So, guys, let's give our support!"

* * *

"Enough of these pitiful games," Sephiroth said, a barrier of darkness surrounding him.

"Damn it," Leon cursed under his breath feeling like he was suddenly being weighed down He was down on one knee holding himself up with his sword, a glance showing Auron in the same situation. They'd been doing so well up until this point. Had Sephiroth been holding back his power until now? He couldn't move his body against the barrier's might, feeling like he was being pushed down into the ground.

"I will finish this," Sephiroth said confidently, smirking as the floor became covered in darkness. "Give yourselves over to the darkness." The floor dropped down underneath the two of them as they were sent falling into darkness.

* * *

"Leon! Auron!" Cloud yelled out watching as the darkness closed over them.

"Go!" Riku yelled out, Cloud looking over at him in surprise as he fought Xemnas. "We'll take care of Xemnas!" Cloud hesitated for a moment, but the authoritative look his prince gave him was enough to make him move. He could not disobey his prince…not after all he'd put him through.

"It seems you weren't fast enough," Sephiroth said smirking and pointing a finger at Cloud as the other neared him.

"!" Cloud jumped out of the way just as the hole started to open under him.

"You're like a lost little cub without your superiors," Sephiroth said with a smirk. Cloud wanted to strangle the man. This was the one that caused so many problems for him and his friends. This was the man they needed to defeat. If he could just do that he could still save Leon and Auron, he was sure of it.

"Impressive moves." Sephiroth said as Cloud dodged another shot towards him. Even saying that, Sephiroth didn't look the least bit surprised. It bothered Cloud…the lack of true emotions the man gave. Did he even care about anything? "What if I change my target to someone else?" Sephiroth looked over at the unconscious Roxas and Axel and grinned holding up his hand towards them. "What if I took out your young prince instead? You seem to fail at everything else. I wonder if you will fail at protecting him as well."

"Don't!" Cloud ran quickly, jumping in front of them just as the darkness flew from Sephiroth's hand.

It felt…strange, almost like a poison was trying to flow into his body. It dug into his skin, ran through his veins feeling nothing like the darkness he'd felt before. The darkness seemed all too happy to wrap around him and suck him inside trapping him in that familiar but uninviting obscurity.

* * *

TBC...

I seriously hope this one makes sense. I forgot this was a chapter I needed to work on and come back too. It feels kind of rushed to me, probably because I was really into the chapters that followed it.


	35. Princely Garbs 35

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: Yay had a lot of editing to do but I think I'm satisfied with this…for now…dun dun duuuuuunnnnn!

Princely Garbs 35

Riku heard Cloud's yell and turned just in time to see him swallowed by the darkness. It didn't just stop there, it took out everyone else as well; Donald, Goofy, Axel, and Roxas. It jolted Riku enough that he turned to face Sephiroth placing his back to Sora's.

"Careful," Riku said as he watched Sephiroth slinking closer.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked him, though he kept his eyes on Xemnas.

"He made some sort of black hole that sucked everyone inside." Sora stiffened against him.

"We have to do something to save them somehow." Riku nodded in agreement though he was unsure how that would work. With just the two of them they weren't strong enough to defeat Xemnas. Now they were facing off against both Xemnas and Sephiroth…alone. "You realize there's a 99% chance we'll lose, right?"

"But as long as there's still a chance, I won't give up." Riku gave a quick glance back at Sora. Though he couldn't see his face, he could fell the confidence radiating off Sora's stiff shoulders. Riku felt his resolved harden. Sora always did make him feel stronger.

"I won't give you that chance," Sephiroth drawled trapping Riku's feet in darkness. Riku struggled to move, looking down when shadowy hands arose from the darkness grabbing at his legs starting to pull him down.

"Riku!" Sora reached out quickly, grabbing at Riku's arms trying to pull him out of the darkness. "Riku, hang on!"

"You continue clinging to your pitiful light," Sephiroth sneered as he and Xemnas started to saunter around him staring down at him, "and yet you continue to lose those close to you because of it." Sora glared up past Riku at the two of them, fingers turning red. Riku tried to help, tried to brace himself on something to hold onto to. Sora looked desperate…but Riku couldn't blame him. He'd be the same way in this situation.

"As you continue to depend on the light, you lose more friends to the darkness. Each futile effort you make to destroy the darkness only fuels its strength." Sephiroth crouched down smirking and reached out cupping Sora's cheek. "I commend you for your ambitions and pointless struggles to survive. You have no idea how please I am to see you kneeling before me."

"I won't give up!" Sora winced. Riku stared watching the blood starting to cover the front of Sora's shirt. He wasn't fully healed. Yet he was hurting himself trying to pull Riku free!

"Sora, stop!" Riku yelled out frantically, trying to stop the other from hurting himself further.

"I can't!" Sora yelled out desperately, tears in his eyes. "I don't want to lose you again!" Riku tensed up at the words, his heart skipping a beat. No it wasn't just the words that caused it but also the tone…that strong feeling of warmth.

"I don't want to lose you either," Riku said softly almost forgetting that the enemy was nearby.

"An enduring moment," Sephiroth said looking down on them. "But I won't let that happiness ruin this triumphing moment of darkness. You cannot save someone controlled by darkness." Riku felt weight on his shoulder pushing him down into the darkness. "I will take your light away."

* * *

"Riku!" Sora tried to push the foot on Riku's shoulder away but Xemnas grabbed his arms pulling them back behind him leaving Sora helpless to help him. Riku's blue eyes continued to stare at Sora until they too were submerged into the darkness.

_I….I lost?_

He could see the darkness spreading out towards him, eating away at the light radiating from him. Sora was slumped over. He felt like all hope was lost to him. He wasn't strong enough to save anyone. Everyone was gone…Was he really so weak that he couldn't even save his friends from the darkness?

"Pitiful," Xemnas said sounding much like Sephiroth as he walked towards him, into him…becoming him. "A weakling until the very end." Sephiroth crouched down in front of him pulling his head up by the chin roughly.

"Why not give yourself over to the darkness as your brother has." A figure started to form from the darkness taking shape as his brother as it sluggishly started towards him.

"Roxas?" There was no response. More started to form around him starting to drown him in the darkness they were producing. It was strong, powerful…too powerful. King Mickey, Goofy, Donald…everyone from Radiant Garden…Kairi…and…Riku.

_Riku?_

"Riku!" No response. "Riku…." Sora slumped over, tears spilling from his eyes. His friends…everyone…all of them were…even him….the one he… "RIKUUU!" The light burst forth from his body, stronger than before.

"Impossible…" Sephiroth voice was that of disbelief. Sora didn't care, standing up as the darkness shied away from his light. "You should have succumbed to the darkness."

"I won't stop until you are defeated!" Sora's keyblade came out with a clang.

"What good is it if all your friends are trapped in the darkness?"

"Even in the dark, our hearts are connected." He moved forward to attack. The words angered Sephiroth further. He backhanded Sora sending him flying into a nearby wall, making it crumble. His body left a large dent in the wall, Sora coughing as he struggled to stand. Pain was gushing through his body as he stood leaning back against the wall to brace himself. He tried to take a couple of steps before he stopped, just holding his arm to him, one eye closed from the blood running down over it.

"Boy, you should have bequeathed that light of yours to me." Sephiroth smirked at him. "Just as your young friend has done with his darkness."

"What do you mean?" Sora stood, blood running down his forehead and from the corner of his mouth. He was barely able to keep himself standing.

"It means that if you refuse to give yourself over to the darkness, then I will just have to kill you here myself." Sephiroth held up his hand, large dark shards hovering in the air before Sora pointing at him. When Sephiroth waved his hand, Sora cursed at himself trying to will his body to move. He couldn't. As the shards came closer to him, he quickly closed his eyes bracing himself for the pain and possibly his dead as well.

_Riku…I…love you._

He felt…nothing. He expected to feel pain, but he felt instead…nothing. When he peeked open his eyes he saw a figure's back. A globe mixed with light and dark was protecting them and was now in the midst of absorbing the dark shards that had been thrown. The figure glanced back at him and Sora was sure his heart would explode right there.

"Riku!"

"You." Sephiroth voice was one of shock which confused Sora further. "You should be trapped in the darkness."

"Sorry, but I managed to figure something out about myself thanks to you," Riku said watching Sephiroth warily. "It makes sense now why the darkness kept invading my heart." As he spoke the words, darkness started to take over crawling over his skin. Sora panicked, reaching out a hand to him but at Riku's confident stare he lowered it. This darkness…it wasn't as…malevolent or violent in the way it took over. Riku stood calmly, the light wrapping over the darkness in a loving caress. "You targeted me for a particular reason. Not because I was a prince but because of the darkness inside of me. I'm just like you." Riku lifted his hand up pointing it towards Sephiroth as dark shards similar to the ones Sephiroth threw at Sora formed in front of him. "I can control the darkness."

Sephiroth laughed folding his arms over his chest. "Darkness doesn't hurt me. Your attack is meaningless." The grin just dared Riku to attack.

"You're right…my attack won't work on you."

Riku hesitated for a moment before he turned around looking at Sora. He walked the short distance to stand in front of him and kneeled down smiling at the younger boy. "Listen to your heart, Sora," he said softly reaching out to rest a hand against his chest. "Everyone's waiting. We're here to help." His fingers brushed across Sora's crown necklace. Sora blushed looking down watching the way the fingers moved against the small piece of metal. "We're just waiting on you to use our light." At that, Riku closed his eyes. Sora stared up at him before letting his own shut. "Can you hear them?" Riku continued.

The necklace heated up against Sora's chest making the younger boy reach up to clamp his hand over Riku's pulling the hand closer. He could hear them…he could hear his friends' voices. Their warmth…their light…was flowing into him.

"_Go Sora Go!" -Selphie._

"_Defeat those baddies! Don't let us down, man!" -Tidus._

"_You better not wimp out on us." –Seifer._

"_Sora, you can do it. We believe in you." -Kairi._

Sora smiled. He held onto it all, all of their hopes, their prayers, and their light. He wouldn't let them down, he couldn't. Not now.

Riku's hand shook under his grip.

"Let's stop him…let's go home together," Riku said causing Sora to tilt his head and stare up at him in shock. Riku's body was shaking slightly, becoming transparent again.

"Riku!" Sora reached out quick wrapping his arms around him tight.

"I'm giving you everything I have." His body was glowing brighter, the light and darkness breaking away from him flowing into Sora's body. As the darkness entered Sora's body it changed becoming part of the light. Sora's wounds were starting to heal thanks to the light.

"Riku, don't go!"

"Use our light, Sora," Riku leaned closer wearily brushing his lips against Sora's ear. "Use my light and my darkness…and…and my love….to bring us…" He vanished from Sora's arms. The young prince of Kingdom Hearts fell forward landing on his hands. He panted tiredly, feeling the warmth of the light flowing inside of him washing over his feelings.

"Riku…" Sora scraped his nails against the floor.

"…Heh…" Sephiroth was looking at him again, that cocky smirk back after the briefness of his shock earlier. "Do you see now how futile your struggles are? After all that, he still los-"

The necklace around Sora's neck shattered into millions of little pieces looking like a cloud of dust. Light blasted from his body, flowing along the curves of his body. The brightness didn't bother him, his hair blowing wildly in the light's currents. The light was there for him, wanted to help him. Sora looked down at the light, watching is coursing over his hands and fingers before he looked up at Sephiroth and clenched his hand into a fist. The light instantly vanished from his sight. He was going to use this power to protect everything important to him. He was going to protect this world.

* * *

When the light dissipated, Sephiroth frowned staring at the son of Tsunami. The boy looked different, much calmer and more in control his eyes like those of a wild lion. The light was sparking tendrils of lightning over his body. How was this boy able to produce so much light? He should have been the same as Roxas.

Sephiroth stared coolly; watching frustrated but with a bit of amusement as three keyblades appeared circling a path around Sora's body. The boy tilted his head staring at him as the light around him disappeared completely. It was like this boy was a completely different person.

"Hmm…" Sephiroth frowned. He watched Sora with hawk eyes wondering what had happened to all the light from earlier. "It doesn't matter," Sephiroth said under his breath as a ball of darkness formed between his hands. "As long as you die now, all that light will turn to darkness."

He smirked as he shrunk the ball of darkness smaller and smaller, making it more powerful and more exact in its aim. He wanted it to be quick but not necessarily painless. He wanted to take out the boy's heart; the very heart the boy claimed gave him his strength. If that really was the case then he was just going to have to remove that little distraction.

Sephiroth didn't take into account, however, the burst of light that appeared from Sora as the young prince rushed towards him.

"Your days are over, Sephiroth." Like lightning speed, Sora darted towards Sephiroth hitting so fast the king couldn't see him. His onslaughts kept coming to the point that Sephiroth let his rage get to him.

"Enough!' Sephiroth yelled out halting Sora's next attack with a spurt of darkness. "Do not anger me further, boy." The Door to Darkness appeared behind him suddenly, opening up as the darkness inside started to bleed out covering Sephiroth's body from head to toe like angry ants. He grew larger, more menacing as his body seemed to devour the darkness. A wing grew from his wingless shoulder before one more followed on both sides.

He flapped them, flying up into the air staring down at the puny child so below his standards. "I will destroy you in one hit!" he yelled holding up his hands, a large sword of darkness appearing before he grabbed the hilt tightly in both hands. He moved flying down on Sora then past him slicing his blade through his center effectively cutting his body half as he heard the body collapse to the ground. Sephiroth smirked, the smug look returning as he regained his confidence.

"Perish with true darkness."

His confident smirk had returned tenfold as he lowered himself back down on the ground. He hadn't really wanted the boy to die, looking back at the boy lying on the floor, blood pouring out from under him. The body twitched in its final throes of life. The effectiveness of the power of light was best when the host was still alive. With the boy dead, that power would be halved. It's not like that mattered anyway, not with there being no one left to oppose him now…or so he though.

"H-How…?" Sephiroth whispered out, frowning as he stared down at the boy's twitching body which was slowly pushing up onto its knees. It was still in one piece. "A protection spell?"

"It's not protection spell," the body on the ground said, standing slowly to Sephiroth's surprised. When the boy had finally stood on his own two feet, he turned around staring hard at him. The darkness around Sora was being absorbed and converted to light, growing larger and larger around him.

"It's the life from my friends and family," he said slowly taking a step towards Sephiroth, the intense gaze in his eyes making even Sephiroth step back, a person who for all he was worth was not the type to step down from a fight. The boy hunched over with a wince but stood straight again, glaring intensely as he took another step. The cut across his stomach was already closing, the flow of blood starting to die down. "It's our determination…our pride…our hopes and our dreams." He took a couple more steps forward, quicker now making Sephiroth take another step back from him.

The three keyblades that had been surrounding Sora appeared again, only this time combining into one and floating down to be held by his hand, a hand that was clenched tightly around the hilt with pent up emotion and power. "It's our feelings of wanting to protect everyone, to protect our sacrifices."

The keyblade grew as Sora pointed it towards Sephiroth. Alarmed, the king of Hollow Bastion tried to flee but couldn't move. He looked down to see that shackles of light had trapped him in place. How he had not noticed them? When had the shackles been placed on him? Had he been so absorbed by the boy's power that he failed to pay attention to his surroundings?

"It's all of our happiness," Sora continued unable to stop now, walking closer still until the tip of the keyblade was resting against Sephiroth's chest over his heart, a heart that was pounding so hard he thought it would burst free, "our sadness, our anger, and our fears!" The light that had been absorbed into Sora's body poured down into the keyblade down into the tip that was glowing brightly, so brightly and so hot Sephiroth was sure it was burning into his skin. It pulsed in response to Sora's words…wait…it was alive…the light lived?

"And I will defeat you here and now to keep protecting those feelings!"

The light blasted from the keyblade hitting Sephiroth feeling like a thousand burning needles all at once traveling through his skin and into his veins poisoning him….cleaning…the poison in him. It surrounded him in it, leaving none of the darkness in his power. It encircled him in a soft blanket he didn't know exist. All the anger, the frustration, the darkness he felt in his heart finished in that one instance. He felt his thoughts vanishing, his mind becoming in empty void of feelings.

The only words he could think was that he felt…warm.

TBC...

Now to completely rework the next chapter typed. Apparently removing a character that was gonna return but then that didn't work out completely messes up the next like…six chapters I had planned. Curses! Foiled again! D:


	36. Princely Garbs 36

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: Yay only two days late this time. Had to edit alot of uh...changes. Thanks for the patiences! :)

Princely Garbs 36

Warmth. Comforting, shielding warmth. That's what Sora felt like he was being wrapped in. If he had a choice he'd stay like this forever. But he had to go. He couldn't bask in this warmth forever. Something…no someone was waiting for him…someone special…somehow who he….

"Sora…?"

"Ri...ku…?"

The name had slipped from his lips, the name itself bringing an extra beat to his heart as his eyes slowly fluttered open before squinting shut. It took him a moment to adjust to the brightness of the sunlight flooding through...a window? He wasn't sure. It felt like he was lying on a bed, but by the looks of the room he wasn't in Hallow Bastion anymore. Then…where was he? It felt familiar.

"Sora, you-ow!"

At the sight of the platinum haired prince hovered over him staring down at him, he'd moved too quickly and bumped his head against the other's…hard.

"You ok?" Riku asked. Sora glanced up at him still rubbing at the painful bump on his head. Riku was rubbing his head as well even though his eyes screamed with concern. He didn't say anything else. He was waiting for an answer.

"Y-Yeah," Sora said softly, blushing a bit as he looked around to distract himself from the staring blue eyes he longed for. The glow of white walls felt familiar to him. He'd been here before, but he couldn't place in his mind when that had been. "Where are we?"

"Kingdom Hearts." Ah…that's why it felt familiar. It was his home…or former home anyway. When he looked at Riku again he found the eyes still staring at him. Aside from the concern, there was another emotion there, one he couldn't quite catch hold of. "You've been out for about three days now."

"Oh…" Sora frowned glancing down at the bed. That would explain the worried look then. He must have passed out after his battle with Sephiroth. He was barely able to even register what else happened then. Sora clenched his hands in the sheets. He still needed to talk to Riku about his feelings. Riku was sitting on the bed now, so close and yet unreachable in Sora's mind. He wanted to change that though, if he could help it.

"Riku, I-"

The words stopped short when Riku leaned forward resting his forehead on Sora's shoulder. The suddenness of the action alarmed Sora. He started to reach down to see if he was ok.

"It's over," The body below him said forcing his hand to freeze in the air.

"…Huh?"

Riku reached up his arms and wrapped them around Sora tugging him into a light hug before he repeated his words. "It's finally over. We defeated Xemnas and Sephiroth. We won."

"We won?" Sora was confused for a moment, but as he sat there truly thinking about the words, a small smile grew on his lips. The smile escalated turning into his trademark grin. "We won!" He laughed then and hugged Riku in return pulling him closer. "We did it!"

Riku laughed too, the sound making his body tremble. The infectious laugh only made Sora giggle louder before it died down when Riku pulled back. Riku reached up brushing the hair out of Sora's eyes as he leaned forward. His gaze kept Sora frozen in place. The young brunet felt his heart slamming in his chest as Riku leaned close, just barely feeling the brush of cool lips.

The door flew open making the two boys jump back from each other. "Riku, dinner's….oh my god!" Two heads turned as one to look at the door. They probably looked like a pair of mischievous puppies their eyes were so wide. Selphie was standing there with the most excited expression on her face. She gawked at Sora. He felt nervous, his cheeks heating up. When he glanced at Riku he saw the other was blushing and looking away. "Sora, you're awake!"

"I…I am…?" In the next instance, he was being pulled away towards the door by the hyperactive girl.

"Come on! We've gotta tell everyone!" As she pulled him he felt like his legs had turned to jelly. He felt lightheaded and for a moment his vision swam. His legs wobbled under him. Did staying in bed for three days really have to make him feel so feeble?

Suddenly Sora was being swooped up and carried bridal style after Selphie. He looked up seeing the older prince staring straight ahead with apple colored cheeks.

"R-Riku!"

"You're still weak. Let me help."

Sora flushed. Selphie giggled at them as she led them down the hallway to where the others were waiting.

"Hey, it's Sora!" Tidus yelled out sounding as excited as Selphie had sounded earlier. "He's awake!"

"How are ya feeling, ya?" Wakka asked.

"I…I'm ok." He felt suddenly embarrassed being carried by Riku. Riku seemed to notice his reaction and lowered him to stand. He stayed closed by though.

The next thing he knew, Tidus had thrown an arm around his shoulders throwing him off balance. "You missed it! There were heartless everywhere! They were on the walls and the ceiling and everything!" He let go moving in front of Sora and puffed out his chest doing his best champion pose. "Naturally, I took them all out myself."

"More like you stood by and did nothing," a figure said bumping into Tidus with no consideration. "Now, move it loser."

"Gah!" Tidus almost fell over from Seifer's rudeness. "Jerk face!"

Seifer seemed to smirk giving Sora the sense that he actually enjoyed the response. But that couldn't be it, not with Seifer anyway. Then again…it was surprising that Seifer was even talking to any of them at all. He was usually the type to stay as far away from them as possible. "Good." Seifer grabbed the back of Tidus's shirt and dragged him down the hallway. "Now come on. I got some more work for your lazy butt."

"I don't wanna!" It wasn't an option. They were already out of sight. From the sound of things, the two had been working together for a bit now. Which was strange considering that Seifer couldn't stand Tidus the most because of his loud mouth. At least…that's how it had been in the past.

"…Well…that was strangely amusing." Riku looked at the others lifting an eyebrow curiously. "What happened to cause that change?"

"Oh yeah…I forgot you've been watching Sora these past few days." Sora stared. Riku blushed. It'd become routine now. "It definitely happened during the attack, ya know? Some male bonding or something I guess, ya." Wakka shrugged and left it at that.

_Yeah, I guess when people get attacked they do tend to…wait…_

"You guys were attacked?" Sora was shocked but it was a little too much for him as he swayed slightly leaning on Riku for support. Riku didn't seem to mind even resting his hand on Sora's head. "Is…is everyone…ok? Where's…where's Kairi?"

"Everyone's ok thanks to Seifer, surprisingly," Wakka said. Wakka was one of the few that could actually tolerate Seifer. That didn't mean they were talked to each other much. "He took care of protecting everyone here, ya know?"

Selphie giggled at some hidden joke before she looked at Sora and beamed. "It got Tidus frustrated because Seifer wouldn't let him do anything. Kairi's safe, she's in the kitchen helping make breakfast right now."

"It's been a while since you got to eat a real meal," Riku said looking down at him. "You hungry?" As soon as the words were spoken, Sora's stomach gave a thunderous growl.

"Guess I could use a little something." He rubbed his head sheepishly. The others laughed at that.

"Come on," Wakka said starting to walk down the hall. "Let's go grab a bite before those Organization dudes eat it all, ya."

"They're here too?" Sora followed with the others though his pace was a lot slower. He had to get used to moving around again.

"Ya. Everyone was suspicious at first, but after Riku explained everything, they'd calmed down. They're kinda like a bunch of big kids, ya. They're still trying to learn how to do things."

The adoration Sora knew was in his eyes when he looked at Riku made the other blush. "I know how they must have felt with their emotions controlled by darkness," Riku said as if obligated to explain. "They were controlled for a longer time." He looks at Sora again, his tired eyes. "I just wanted them to feel human."

Sora stumbled again falling against Riku. He panted tiredly closing his eyes. He probably shouldn't be out of bed, at least not right after he woke up. But he was determined to see everyone, to make sure everyone was ok.

"Sora?" Riku reached out catching hold of him. "You sure you're ok? Maybe it's better if you lay down a while."

"N-No I'm fine." Sora swallowed waiting until the dizziness went away. "I still feel a little…weak, that's all. I'm ok."

"…"

"R-Riku!" He'd been picked up again, his eyes shooting up to stare at the older boy with a blush.

"I-I'll…" Riku smiled at him shyly. "I'll…be your leverage." He leaned closing hiding his face against Sora's neck as he started to walk again. He was moving slower putting some distance between them and the others as he spoke in a low voice. "Use my strength, my light, and my darkness," he whispered against Sora's neck. A shiver ran through Sora's body as he remembered the words he'd heard Riku say to him back when he was fighting Sephiroth.

"_Use my light and my darkness…and…and my…"_

"A-And your love?" Riku tripped and almost stumbled from the words, blushing like a ripe tomato.

"Y-Yes…" he said, "that too." Sora reddened and opened his mouth to say something in response. Instead he was rushed by the sound of cheers as they walked into the kitchen.

"Welcome back!" The room erupted.

"W-Wha-" Every one of his friends were there. They smiled at him, cheering and clapping and waving their hands. It almost seemed like a mini festival. He'd never realized he had so many friends. Even the people still alive from Radiant Garden.

"Welcome back!" Kairi said smiling as she came up and hugged Sora as soon as he was put down. "We missed you."

"I…I missed you guys too," Sora replied hugging her back. "But what is this for?" He looked at her then looked around the room confused.

"A thank you...for a lot of things," Leon said stopping behind Kairi, arms folded. He looked like he was brooding as usual but the slight twitch of his mouth showed that he did feel happy to see him. "For one, bringing everyone here alive."

"Stopping the Organization and returning our hearts from the darkness would be another," Roxas added in smirking from where he was standing with the other former members of the Organization. Axel was standing beside Roxas looking at him with a look Sora assumed his own face showed when he looked at Riku.

"You returned Kingdom Hearts and Radiant Garden to the people and gave me my life back," another voice said. When Sora looked towards the voice his eyes almost bugged out of his head.

"Auron!" he yelled out. "You're alive!"

"A lot happened while you were out," Cloud joined in moving to stop beside Auron and offering him a smile. "But thanks to you I gained my true memories back. It was enough to nullify the spell and return Auron's soul in full to itself. I learned not to dwell on my past mistakes but to learn from them."

"All of it," Auron said glancing at Cloud with his one eye before looking at Sora again, "is thanks to you…my prince." Auron and Cloud bowed to him and Sora felt himself heat up with embarrassment. He'd never get used to all this prince stuff.

"Well," Sora said looking around at everyone. "I couldn't have done any of it without you all. You guys gave me the strength to continue even when I felt like giving up." He bowed his head showing his gratitude. "Really…thank you everyone." He looked up at Riku. "And…thanks Riku for…supporting me all this time."

Riku blushed. "Welcome home…Sora." He was staring again.

"T-Thanks," Sora stuttered staring back.

Mickey walked over distracting Sora as he rested his human hand on the young prince's head. "Well…shall we prepare a festival?"

"Festival?" Sora tilted his head comically.

Mickey stared at him a moment before he laughed ruffling his hair making a mess of it. "To celebrate this moment." He gestured for Roxas to come over. The twin looked hesitant but he came over only to have his hair assaulted the same way Sora's had been. "Besides, Kingdom Hearts is overdue for their annual festival. I think it needs the healing."

Sora didn't even know that Kingdom Hearts had annual festivals. It sounded like a fun idea. He was curious about what Mickey meant by Kingdom Hearts "needing the healing." Apparently, his twin brother was thinking the same thing having the exact same expression Sora felt on his own face.

Roxas frowned after Mickey's words, looking confused. "But how is it going to-"

"Alright!" Mickey interrupted quickly clapping his hands on both their backs and smiling. "Merlin can help us out with some outfits. Donald and Goofy will be organizing for food and to be transported from Magic Kingdom. If I can get everyone to help out with bringing decorations and music, we can have some fun with this."

"…Wouldn't it be easier to just have it at Magic Kingdom," Riku asked.

Mickey winked at him. "Trust me. It'll be better to do it here."

"But-"

"Alright, everyone! Let's get to it! Let's have as much of it ready by tonight as we can. Which this many people, I'm sure we can make it!" With the must motivation put into it, everyone in the room was cheering in excitement. Not that Sora was able to stay completely focused on it. He was already starting to fall asleep resting against Riku's side. A small smile grazed his lips at the soft petting to his hair but he barely noticed it.

He should rest up a bit while he had time. He loved festivals. He didn't want to miss this one. Tonight was going to be fun.

TBC….

This chapter changed…a lot! Originally a certain person was in this chapter but with the change of last chapter and the removal of said person, this changed the rest of the story a lot for me DX much editing to do now. Much much much! Also this ice cream sandwich I'm eating is delicious. Yum. :D


	37. Princely Garbs 37

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Almost finished editing this one and then I fell asleep. But it's up now! I'll try to get the next one out this Wednesday since I'll be leaving for convention this coming weekend. If I see you at Metrocon then all the more awesome! :D

Princely Garbs 27

The children were still scared of him. Demyx couldn't deny it upset him a bit. But could he blame them? He had betrayed them and even killed the parents of some of them. There was nothing he could do to heal those feelings. Even if Riku did speak on the Organization's behalf that didn't mean the people would accept them so easily, especially the three of them who had once been called friends.

"This really sucks," Demyx said kicking at a rock by his foot. The kids were off playing and having fun amongst each other and he would have done anything to be there to entertain them. He'd never had a chance to have fun as a kid, especially since he'd been with the Organization since his childhood.

"I know what you mean," Marluxia said sitting with Larxene beside him against the castle wall. They'd found a little field within the Kingdom Hearts reign. The grass here was beautiful and a healthy color green. Flowers bloomed everywhere the eyes could reach and there was a crystal clear lake nearby that some birds had no problems enjoying. "But even if we were being controlled by darkness it doesn't excuse the fact that we killed innocent people."

"I know that," Demyx admitted ducking his head slightly as he slid down on the other side of Marluxia. "But that doesn't change the fact that it sucks."

"Well…" Larxene stood up dusting her butt off before she looked down at them both. She looked much more…calm…and friendly now that the darkness that invaded her heart was gone. "We'll just have to earn the right to make people like us again."

"How?" Demyx asked hopeful.

Larxene's look saddened but she gave him a chaste smile. "One step at a time."

"It will be a long process." Marluxia rested his hand on the ground beside him, the hand glowing a moment before the grass grew flush around his fingers. "But what other way is there?"

"None." Larxene gave a forlorn look to the sky. They were silent. The wind picked up around them, blowing a couple of stray leaves from the surrounding trees. "Some might never forgive us."

Demyx rested his chin on a knee and frowned a bit as he looked at the two of them. "Hmm…" True, they couldn't expect everyone to forgive them…but he might be able to mend some of those broken bridges. He stretched his arms above his head before he forced himself to stand up bending over to pop the muscles in his back.

"Well there's no point dwelling on it now," he said grinning down at the two of them. "They need some music for the festival right?" Demyx grinned and waved his hand, water glowing and forming from his hands taking shape into a lute before becoming solid. Despite having gained their hearts back, the former Organization members were still able to use a bit of their abilities, though without the use of the darkness. It might as well be magic though it seemed to weaken slowly these past few times. He was sure it wouldn't be long before he wouldn't be able to use it at all.

"I'll go help out the musicians," Demyx said already starting to head off back to the city. He held the lute over a shoulder casually. "Maybe you guys can find some way to help with your powers."

"I know exactly what I'll do," Larxene said from behind him. Demyx couldn't help laughing as he started to run heading back into the town. They were going to make it through this one way or another. If he needed to spend the rest of his life repaying the people back then he would. He wouldn't rest until everyone was happy, even if that never happened during his living days.

* * *

Axel stared at Roxas, making the younger ex-Organization member feel uncomfortable. But he knew the reason for the gaze. How could a person not gawk considering what he'd been forced to wear. They were on their way to the festival. Somehow both he and Sora had got the luck of having specially made festival clothes that really made them stand out.

He wore a headband covered in a blue plumes and baggy blue pants that contrasted to Sora's red. Both boys wore the yellow vest and enough jewelry to send a beacon to a person halfway across the world. Roxas wondered if Merlin had created these clothes just for the sake of torture. He couldn't really blame Merlin though, since Mickey was the one that said it wasn't flashy enough. Were they some kind of dress up dolls to the king or something?

"You look great," Axel said though the smirk didn't leave his face.

"I _**look**_ ridiculous," Roxas responded trying his best to glare at the red head even though his cheeks were flushed.

"It's nice."

"It sucks."

"It looks pretty on you."

"I'm a boy."

"And?" Axel eyes seemed to glow with mischief as he kept teasing.

"I'm not supposed to look pretty," Roxas said unable to help himself as he glanced away shyly. Damn the red head and his sexy eyes.

"Can't help what you are."

"Axel!" Roxas really blushed then and used a hand to hit his shoulder.

Axel wasn't fazed by it he just chuckled and leaned over kissing Roxas's forehead. "I'm just teasing. It's fine." They'd gotten together after Axel woke up from the battle at Hallow Bastion. It'd been the best move he'd ever made. He'd been his happiest ever since.

"To think you didn't even know what teasing was until recently," Roxas said elbowing his ribs lightly.

Axel rubbed at the spot pretending to be in pain despite the smirk on his lips. "It's not that I didn't know, just that I had forgotten." He reached down resting his hand flat on Roxas's chest. Roxas's heart beat faster at the touch and he closed his eyes savoring this moment. "About like how I forgot what love felt like until you showed me."

"A-Axel…" Roxas blushed when Axel wrapped his arms around him pulling him closer to him. They stayed together a moment longer just enjoying the privacy before Axel leaned back and grabbed Roxas's hand.

"Come on, let's go join up with everyone." Roxas nodded his head a blush in his cheeks and followed alongside the former Organization member.

* * *

The preparations were almost completed. Decorations hang beautiful from desolate windows and street lights in a swirl of colorful feathers and beads. Everyone was busy at work completing finishing touches and decorating the tables that were set up with food stacked on top. Everyone but a single figure who stood out because of his hunched over, brooding form.

Auron made his way over to the Radiant Garden commander. He became fascinated with how deeply the man was staring ahead of him, before realizing what had him so mesmerized. Cloud seemed oblivious as he walked with the three princes with observing eyes.

"Having fun?" Auron asked him when he'd stopped beside him.

"I'm a soldier," Leon said as his response. He only turned his eyes away for a second to look up at Auron before returning his gaze to Cloud. "We don't have fun. We protect."

"You're also human." Auron took a moment to pull a chair up sitting at the table with him. He watched the young blond with Leon, growing amused when Cloud started to fuss over Sora's clothes reminding him of a mother hen with her chick. He must have been as nervous as the twins were. This would be the first festival for the two twins. It would be the first in many years for Auron, Cloud, and Mickey, who'd used to frequent the festivals every opportunity he had.

Auron looked at Leon again. The man just oozed of a person in love, despite the lack of emotions radiating from him. But Auron knew, he knew because for a short time at Hallow Bastion he had been inside the man's head. Even if he could lie to himself and everyone out loud, he could not trick his own mind which, at the time, lay bare open for Auron's access. "…When are you going to confess?"

Leon turned his head to gape at him. Auron stared back with his one good eye. "Don't deny it," he said to Leon before reaching up and tapping his own head. "You think too much. It's hard to lie to yourself."

"…Stay out of my head." Leon glowered at him clenching his hands into fists.

Auron tilted his head popping a joint in his neck and kept his eye on Leon. "…Keep stalling and I'll take him myself." Leon's glare seemed to heat up. He mumbled something under his breath turning his head away to look towards Cloud again. The reaction amused Auron even as he leaned in trying to catch what the commander said.

"…I'm sorry…what was that?" Auron asked, smirking when Leon's eyes twitched. It's a shame how easy it was to get a rise out of Leon.

Leon's glare harden but this time there was a tattle tale coloring of red in his cheeks. "I don't know how yet…" The words still came out low but this time Auron managed to catch them all.

"Hm." Auron nodded. Yes, of course that was the hardest part to any relationship. How to confess to someone when you've know clue how to begin? "…The simplest solution would be to just kiss him," Auron said looking towards Cloud again and giving a hidden smile under his collar when Cloud tried to fix the two twins stubborn hair. "If he responds positively to it then it must be he feels the same way." He shrugged his shoulders. It was the bluntest way to go about it. The only bad part to it was if it ended negatively. The person confessing would probably end up with both a broken heart and a stinging cheek.

Leon gave a grunt but a glance at him showed he was really thinking about it. It made Auron chuckle as mentally he could see Leon writing down this tidbit of information storing it away on his mini notepad. "Don't think too hard on it," Auron reassured him reaching down to rest his hand on Leon's shoulder. "Just follow your heart." Leon glanced at him, looking unsure for a moment. He could imagine the fact that Leon was frightened by the prospect of Cloud not returning is feelings. Anyone would feel the same in this situation.

"I'll leave you to think about it." Auron said and stood up from the table heading off to take care of other business. When he glanced back he saw Leon staring towards Cloud again, only this time with a resolute look on his face. Leon made his decision…and so had Auron.

* * *

"Come on, you two, act least act like you're enjoying this." Kairi frowned at them with her hands on her hips resembling a lecturing mother as she looked between Riku and Sora. Honestly, she felt more like his little sister than a cousin. "Especially, you, Sora." She gave him a pointed look and Riku did his best to keep his smirk from lifting to his lips when the younger male squirmed under the stare. But it wasn't like Riku didn't understand his pain, after all he was dressed weird himself…just not as extravagantly.

"I feel like an idiot," Sora whined out tugging on the yellow vest with a blush. Riku regretted the small action as he found himself trying to see more of the skin that lay beneath the open vest.

"At least it looks good on you," Riku said still staring at the flash of skin before he blushed at the look Sora gave him. "From a…friendly perspective." Sora seemed to blush at that and glanced down at his feet. If Riku had been paying attention he would have noticed the look that Kairi was giving them.

"I'll give you two a moment to get it together," she said already walking in Riku's direction. "I'll go check on the others…good luck." The last part came out as a whisper when Kairi passed by his side. If he hadn't been paying attention to her words he would have missed it. Riku was about to turn to stop her but when he looked up he saw Sora staring at him. The younger male suddenly found interest in his shirt reminding Riku of how nervous he felt himself. Kairi was giving him this chance…he couldn't let it fail.

"Sor-"

"Ri-"

The two of them looked at each other stopping before starting to laugh. He couldn't admit knowing exactly what was so funny about what happened, but the laugh seemed to ease the bitter sweet tension between them. Sora smiled at him and Riku couldn't help letting his eyes trail over the soft lips. They were close to each other, but it was still a friendly distance. Riku wanted to change that.

"Wow," Sora said rubbing at his eyes where small tears had formed from the loud laughter. "It's like something you'd read in one of those cheesy nov-"

The words stopped…at the fault of the young prince of Radiant Garden kissing the other prince's lips. He could see the heat crawling up Sora's face from his neck but he didn't pull away, instead reaching down to pull Sora closer in hopes of him not trying to run away. Sora hadn't responded to the kiss aside from the stare of wide eyes. Riku had no regrets, though…at least not with the decision he'd made.

His determination rewarded him as he felt Sora's lips moving against him before the younger boy leaned closer starting to kiss him back. They weren't experienced at this at all, the kiss being sloppy and more like a brush of lips than anything. It'd be enough to make Riku happy anyway as he slowly leaned back to break the kiss. He panted slightly in excitement and lean forward to rest his forehead against Sora's, smiling down at him.

Sora stared up into his eyes smiling softly though the redness didn't seem to dissipate. "I guess I had that one coming, huh?"

Riku hesitated at the words before nodded his head. "For a long time now." He still had his arms around Sora and felt even more surprised when the younger prince leaned closer to him about to kiss him. Riku braced himself, heart drumming against his chest as he felt the touch ghosting across his lips.

"Come on you love birds, they're getting started!" Kairi said from behind Riku forcing the two of them to pull back from each other guilty.

Sora blushed looking up at Riku shyly, a small smile on his lips before he turned and rushed off quickly running past Kairi. Riku shook his head at the sudden change and was about to follow before he looked over at Kairi. She was staring after Sora and it reminded Riku of the fact that she'd been infatuated with the boy after all this time. His feet found him walking until he was standing before his cousin.

"Kairi…" He said her name slowly and waited for the girl to turn to face him. "..I'm sor-"

"It's ok," Kairi said shaking her head before he could finish. "I'm just glad to finally see you happy."

"Kairi…"

"You've always looked so sad before," she said walking to stand beside him and glancing up at him, "ever since your parents died. But ever since Sora's come to Radiant Garden, you've been the happiest I've ever seen. I don't want to see that depressed look again." She smiled glancing over towards where everyone was starting to gather for the festival.

"Thank you," Riku said. It was all he could say. His cousin had always been there for him, was still there for him. She was special to him and if he had it any other way he would have supported Sora's relationship with her, even if it broke his heart to pieces. It made him feel bad to steal this away, this heart that Kairi wanted, this heart that he couldn't bear to let go.

"Quit looking so serious." She giggled behind a hand looking at him again before she smiled and reached out wrapping her arms around Riku. "I love you, cousin."

"I love you too," Riku smiled hugging her back. "Now let's go enjoy this festival and see about finding you a boyfriend."

"How about you go take care of your own boyfriend and leave me to handle my own love life."

"I guess that sounds fair," Riku said blushing at the word boyfriend before laughing and grabbing her hand. He dragged her off to join with Sora and the rest of their friends as the sound of music started to fill the festival air.

TBC…

Working on the next part now. Hope you enjoyed this one!


	38. Princely Garbs 38

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay finished it just in time kinda. I need to head to bed. Anyway posting this one up a little early than the usual because I'm going to be out of town this weekend (yay convention!). So yeah...Hope it isn't too insane sounding, I was a bit rushed in doing this.

Princely Garbs 38

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited about this festival. It's been years…literally over 15 years since he'd last experienced the thrill of a Kingdom Hearts festival. He felt special attachments for the festivals and he had no doubts that nostalgia overtook him this night. If he closed his eyes he could see his King and Queen dancing away and enjoying the festivities. He missed them dearly…but he was lucky to be able to protect their children for them.

"Excited?"

Cloud glanced up at the voice seeing Auron beside him before he gave a nod of his head. Yeah…he was excited. He finally felt like he could truly begin to heal, especially with the special ceremonial dance coming up soon. Sora and Roxas had tried to ask him about it but he'd sent them back to their friends. They'd never get what would happen in that dance until they experienced it for themselves.

"It's been a while since we've witnessed this," Auron spoke again, looking out towards the flow of bustling festival goers.

"Close to seventeen years," Cloud responded, his eyes spotting Sora and his group of friends chatting in a group. It'd been that long since he'd seen home in this light and even this didn't reach Kingdom Heart's true glory. "It will be a great refresher."

"Hm…"

"I'm…interested to see how this will work out for Sora and Roxas," he said turning around now to look up at Auron. "This will be their first time actually doing the ritual dance and they're without guidance from their mother and father."

"They'll do fine." Auron rested a hand down on Cloud's head ruffling his hair a little and reminding the young blond of a time when they were younger and Auron did this to him. He'd missed this. He'd missed Auron. But now thanks to Sora, he could relive these somber moments with the older man that'd he'd lost for many years. "Even though they have no idea about the dance, their bodies will remember." Auron smirked then, his eyes glazing over as he seemed to get lost in thought. "It is in their blood."

"You're right," Cloud smiled and reached up gently resting his hand over Auron's on his head. "I am curious to see what they are capable of."

"Mickey made the right choice in having this festival right now. He was right when he said this city needed it." Auron lowered his hand down looking again to the group of friends before he frowned. "I have one concern regarding the young prince of Radiant Garden."

"Hm?" Cloud blinked glancing up at him but the older man wasn't looking at him anymore.

"The darkness that resides in him…bothers me." Auron's eyebrow narrowed as he seemed in disapproval. "I know you heard it while trapped within the darkness."

"About how he's able to control both light and dark?" Cloud frowned and glanced back at Riku when he heard the young prince laughing, probably at one of Sora's jokes. "Yeah…I heard it." Of course he'd heard it. Everyone that had been trapped by Sephiroth's dark circle heard it. He'd almost bet they were being very cautious around the Radiant Garden prince.

"This is the first that I've heard of someone being able to control both."

Cloud stared at him trying to read his face for what he was trying to say. Auron gave him no hints to thoughts. However, Cloud stood firmly by his own resolve in the matter. Riku wasn't evil. "If you're implying you think he'll use the darkness for evil then I disagree."

Auron stared at him for a moment before he shook his head frowning. "No...I'm more worried that he'll lose contro-"

"He won't." Cloud looked at the young prince watching how closely he stood next to Sora, how protective he was of the smaller boy. It made the corners of Cloud's lips lift up at the sight. "He's strong…and he has a lot of friends to help him. He has a lot of things he wants to protect." He looked up at Auron, the smile still on his face. "There's nothing to worry about."

"You're right. Even though I don't know how it is that he can control the darkness without any former ties to it, you're right that he will be ok." Auron was staring at him again, almost appearing to be smiling behind the collar of his jacket. "But this isn't what I came to talk to you about."

Cloud blinked, curious now. He'd assumed Auron wanted to talk to him about Riku considering where the conversation was moments ago. Now he wondered what had been Auron's true aim in coming to him. "Did you need my help with something?"

"No…but being able to talk to you again has been fun." His fingers were playing with a blade of Cloud's hair making the young blond blush. "Your opinions of Leon…" Auron said suddenly which only seemed to make Cloud's cheeks redden even more. "I wish to know them."

"W-What?" Cloud stared up at him in shock, feeling more than a little embarrassed. "Why do you-"

"Humor me." Auron said tilting his head back enough so that Cloud could really see the smirk on Auron's lips. It made him suspicious, only because he knew that smirk meant Auron was up to something.

"I…h-he's…strong," Cloud said slowly, carefully, his chest beating fast just at the thought of the other man. "He's a very good leader and-"

"What are the feelings resting in your heart?" The hand on his head moved much more affectionately, making him think of a big brother teasing his younger sibling. At least that's how it felt to him anyway.

"M-My feeli…uh…w-why do you-"

"I'm curious..." It felt strange having Auron asking him these personal questions and it made Cloud wonder why Auron wanted to know in the first place. It wasn't like it was any of his business if Cloud did like Leon. "I'm curious," Auron said as if he'd heard Cloud's train of thought. He rested his hand on Cloud's cheek which caused the young blond to flush even more at the unfamiliar action, "to see if you return the feelings."

The last words confused him. It seemed as though Auron knew something Cloud didn't, something that involved the way Leon felt about him. It made him feel anxious as he asked, "I…does he…have feelings for me?" Auron's smile softened and there was something unreadable in the eye that stared down at him. Cloud tried to stare, to read them but he couldn't keep the eye contact as he glanced away quickly.

"I'm not saying until I receive an answer."

Cloud frowned before closing his eyes and giving out a sigh to calm his nerves. It wasn't like Leon was standing there listening to him. It couldn't hurt to admit to this one…emotion he felt. "Y…Yes…" His cheeks felt like they were going to melt they were burning so.

"Yes what?" Sadistic bastard…

"I have…feelings…for him."

"What kind?"

He was starting to get uncomfortable with all of the questions and wished he were anywhere but there at that moment. "The…strong kind…the kind that makes…m-my heart beat really fast." Cloud looked up at him then, swallowing slightly but keeping the eye contact this time. "Auron he…I'd be lost without him. He gives me the strength to want to go on. I…l-love…" Wow, this was harder to say than he'd thought.

Auron stared down at him for a moment longer, the hand still gently caressing Cloud's cheek before his eye flickered up to look back behind Cloud. "That should be a good enough answer for you, jealous boy."

Jealous boy?

Cloud noticed the aim of Auron's gaze. His eyes widened when he realized Auron had been speaking to someone else before he turned quickly coming eye to eye with, "L-Leon!"

The hardened look eon's eyes startled Cloud for a moment but when Leon focused on him the look softened and…was he seeing red in his cheeks? "Yes…"

"I…" Cloud blushed finding himself stuttering even more than before. "H-how…how much…did you hear?"

"Enough." Leon shifted a bit and looking just as nervous as Cloud felt.

"I'll leave you two to your own devices." Auron was still smirking when he started walking away from them leaving Cloud gaping at him in shock.

"He set me up…." The words slipped from Cloud's lips before he realized it.

"Then he does have some good uses." Cloud turned finding Leon looking at him again, somehow closer now than he'd been before. He still looked nervous so it made Cloud feel at least a little better that he wasn't the only one. "So is it true?"

Cloud looked up at him then away blushing using the ground as an excuse to look away. "Is what true?"

"Everything you said."

"…." Cloud hesitated a moment, afraid in a way of what his answer could entail. What if Leon didn't feel the same way? Auron never did give him an answer though…from the way Auron had left things; he had a strong inkling that Leon felt the same. "It is…"

"How long?"

"A while now," Cloud said slowly then looked up at Leon after he'd said it.

"Me too…" Leon said right after his confession, his cheeks just as red as Cloud was sure his own had to be.

"…." Cloud had stepped closer within that short breath of silence.

"…." Leon was staring at him now, not as he normally would but as a greedy lion staring at its delicate mate. It made Cloud blush though he didn't run. He waited…and watched to see what Leon's next move would be.

Cloud felt the larger hands resting down on his hips, a pair of lips resting on his own making him shudder. He wanted this...Shiva only knew how much he wanted this. For a long time he'd wanted this man, even if his own mind didn't think so. It explained why his heart beat so fast around him, why he felt so alone when not near him. He wasn't a lone wolf...just a very lonely wolf. It took Sora coming inside his head to tell him that important fact.

"Mm," shivering, Cloud broke the kiss looking up at Leon as he rested his head against his forehead and draped his arms over his shoulders. If others had seen the action, Cloud made no note of it. He didn't care what others said as long as he got what he wanted. He was sure they'd be more teasing than anything though and he'd find himself easily susceptible to it.

"Let's…go check on Sora and the others," Leon said as a distraction, as he pulled away to start walking. "The dance will be starting soon, right?" Cloud blinked at the sudden change and moved to walk beside Leon.

"Y-Yeah…" Cloud glanced up at him taking in the details of Leon's face as the other looked straight ahead. He really was cute…but it wasn't like Cloud didn't already know every detail of his face, including the large scar that ran across his nose. "You've never seen one before, right?"

"Never had the opportunity…" Leon reached down grabbing Cloud's hand and giving it a squeeze. The hand was warm…inviting…and somehow conveying feelings from just that small action. "But…I think I'll enjoy this first time experience." He looked over at Cloud then throwing him off guard by offering him a small smile, a smile Cloud was sure would stay in his memories forever as the sweetest smile he'd ever seen on the man.

"I think you will." Cloud smiled back at him. "It's an amazing event." He gave the hand a squeeze.

"Mickey made it seem important." Leon frowned bit. "What is it exactly?"

"A festival." Cloud said smirking a bit at the confused look he received for his answer. "It's…somewhat of a cleansing ritual." Now Leon really looked confused. "It's better if you just see it. It's hard to explain it."

Cloud stopped them in the outer circle of people just as he saw Mickey standing up on the table. It was about to begin.

TBC…

Annnnd I'll see if I can get that other one done next week. x.x So many changes to it again but hopefully not for the worst.


	39. Princely Garbs 39

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay after convention update. Boo to convention being over. I miss it already. x.x Anyways, this first part you can consider it happening at the same time as the Leon/Cloud part from the previous chapter. Enjoy. :bows:

Princely Garbs 39

This is boring!" Tidus groaned out lying back on the grass. He'd snuck away from the others to find Seifer. It drove Seifer nuts because of the boy being such a nuisance. Seifer enjoyed all of his personal time away from everyone and yet here this brat was invading his personal space and time. "When is the festival going to start?"

"Hell if I know," Seifer grumbled leaning back against the tree he sat under. He kept his arms staring in the direction of the festival. The festival still hadn't started yet, everyone hanging around each other and talking and mingling. Seifer didn't care for all of that. He didn't even like festivals. He liked being away from everyone. He didn't consider himself antisocial, at least not as much as Leon. But he didn't like hanging around people either if he could avoid it. It was why he'd find himself a quiet place away from the festival goers but close enough where he could keep an eye on them. Even if the heartless weren't around anymore, he couldn't help keeping himself on guard. You never knew what might attack.

"Come on, let's do something," Tidus whined from beside him and rolled over facing him starting to poke Seifer's side mercilessly. He didn't know why the boy felt the need to pester him. Ever since the incidents going on around Kingdom Hearts happened, such as the heartless attack and the Door to Light being saved, Tidus had found many opportunities to come and bother him…about nothing.

"Go play with Selphie and the others," Seifer said swatting the hand away from him and grunting when it returned full force.

"But they're having their girl meeting or something." Poke.

"Then go play with Wakka." Swat.

"But Wakka's playing with all the little kids. There's nothing fun to do there." Poke. Poke.

"Then go stick your head in a pond and leave me alone!" Swat. Swat.

"You're no fun." Tidus poked his bottom lip out and reached out to poke Seifer again. He yelped in surprise when his finger was grabbed by the older male. As if he'd let this little game continue any further. This kid was annoying.

"Wrong. It's called "I'm trying to rest so leave me alone." Seifer threw the finger away from him and felt not regret when Tidus huffed and rolled over in the opposite direction. It became a little uncomfortable with the sudden silence, though Seifer told himself it didn't bother him. He was just happy the boy had finally shut up.

He found himself glancing at the boy's back then quietly berating himself for the action…especially at glancing at that squishy butt of his. Tidus was quiet…too quiet. It started to irk at Seifer. He could at the least admit not being used to a quiet Tidus. Who would?

The silence seemed to stretch on though it had only been a couple of minutes since it started. Seifer felt his frustration growing and started to reach out to touch Tidus's shoulder. Could the teenager have fallen asleep? No, there's no way he was asleep that quickly so what was he-

"Hey…Seifer?" He knew it. There was no way the boy could stay quiet for long.

With a frustrated huff, Seifer withdrew his hand before it could touch the other and replied, "What?"

"…."

…Oh this game. The, I'm not going to talk unless you beg me to, game. Well Seifer wasn't going to give in to it. Not this time.

"Seifer…?"

"I said what, now either spit it out or shut up."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"….."

"Tidus, what the hell do you want?" Seifer yelled out exasperated losing his patience. He lost.

"…Why did you kiss me that time in the hallway?" Tidus asked. It was low…but Seifer heard it as his body tensed at the words. Well…that wasn't what he had expected Tidus to ask him. He honestly didn't have an answer to it either and had done his best to forget about it until now.

Tidus rolled over again and looked up at him expectantly, his cheeks a small tint of red. He waited for an answer, an answer Seifer couldn't give him.

"…Why are you even asking about that?" It wasn't like it had been an intentional kiss anyway. At the time he'd been rocked into the boy by the tremors of the Door to Light closing. But then again had he not been teasing the boy by being so close, it wouldn't have happened…would it?

"Because…I…um…well…there's gotta be a reason f-for…for that right?"

"It was an accident…so not really, no." His response came out guarded. Seifer did his best to keep it that way.

"But people don't just kiss people because they can," Tidus said quickly sitting up and leaning so he was face to face with Seifer, the suddenness of it making Seifer recoil back from him. "Even if it was an accident it still happened. And later you kept squeezing my butt and…." He trailed off at that biting his lips looking frustrated and somehow cute at the same time. This was bad.

The look changed to one of determination as Tidus stared up at him starting to lean closer to him. For the first time ever, Seifer actually felt himself putting up his guard against the boy. How could someone so small suddenly make him feel so powerless? "Tell me why, Seifer. Why did you do that?"

"…No."

"Tell me!"

"I said no."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell mmmm-!" It wasn't how he had planned to shut the boy up, but it had its effect, the other staring up at him with wide eyes, the cheeks turning an interestingly darker shade of red. The problem was that Seifer's own cheeks had started to burn in return. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He was supposed to run the boy away and never have to answer to these urges again.

Instead Seifer had to struggle to break the kiss, to pull his lips back. It wasn't far enough as Tidus's lips followed his moving against them as Seifer tried to speak.

"There, satisfied?" was the barely controlled whisper and Tidus leaned back to look up at him. He knew his face was guarded. He also knew it meant nothing when he was breathing hard and looking at everything by the boy in front of him.

Instead answering, Tidus leaned in again half crawling into Seifer's lap as he kissed him once more.

"Wha-mm?" Seifer blushed and pulled back again breaking the kiss, breathless. "Tidus, what the-mmm." Break. "Stup-mmm!" He couldn't resist, grabbing the other boy's soft squishy buttocks and pulling him closer kissing him deeper. Tidus had protested against his lips at the butt touch, but that just gave Seifer an opening into his mouth, his tongue moving slowly to taste everything there was to offer inside.

He hated to admit it, but the boy was delicious. Tidus seemed to relax against him even as he rubbed his hand over the boy's butt enjoy the rare moment. When the young trainee moaned into his mouth, it made him want to hear more. He would have continued right then if not for the sound of cheers coming from the festival area forcing Tidus to break the kiss.

Was Seifer wrong for saying he was satisfied to see the swollen lips on the other or the fact that Tidus was out of breath? Hell, he was out of breath too. He would have continued if Tidus hadn't been looking away, towards the festival where he could see people gathered around the dance area to listen to Mickey's speech.

"Look, they're starting," Tidus said but made no move to remove himself from Seifer's lap as he grinned looking down at him again. And then, all thought was forgotten when their lips met again.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Mickey said holding up his arms from his standing position on the table. "Welcome to the Kingdom Hearts celebration festival!" Sora pressed himself closer to Riku as he looked up at the Magic Kingdom king. "Tonight will be full of dancing and singing like no other!"

He paused a moment to let the cheering die down before continuing. "Recently we've been through a lot. There's been a lot of pain…of suffering, remorse, death, fear, a lot of feelings we keep holed up in the darkness of our hearts."

Mickey rested a hand over his chest and Riku mimicked the action as if feeling the darkness inside him. It worried Sora enough that he reached out and gently clasped Riku's hand. The older boy looked startled for a moment but then he smiled and Sora felt his hand being held in return.

"The reason Kingdom Hearts performs these festivals," Mickey continued, "is because they help to heal the wounds of the heart. The light from Kingdom Hearts is strong, strong enough to help heal most open wounds."

Sora looked at Riku frowning. He did want to help Riku heal. He knew the older boy must have still been suffering. He'd lost his parents. He'd lost his grandfather. And he'd come close to losing all of his friends. The darkness there…was it from that? He needed to find out, to help Riku control the darkness and eventually be rid of it.

"But they can only be done to this effect once a year. This is why we're going to have a little help from both princes of Kingdom Hearts." Sora looked up at that seeing the king's eyes on him for a moment before flickering to the side of him to look at Roxas. "Their light is strong enough to truly enhance the healing process."

"So…we have to dance?" Roxas asked looking up at Mickey who smiled at him. Roxas sounded nervous. Sora was glad to know he wasn't the only one. He couldn't even remember dancing back at Kingdom Hearts, since he'd been focused on training and beating Riku at hide and seek.

"Yes…but you won't be alone." Mickey lifted up a hand towards the band with a grin. "Let the festival begin! Eat, dance, drink, laugh, and enjoy the powers of Kingdom Hearts! Let your bodies and your souls be healed by the light!"

TBC….

I'm starting to think that Mickey likes to talk. I'm also starting to think he likes teasing the two twins. ^^ Also Tidus and Seifer…yeah…fun for me :snickers:


	40. Princely Garbs 40

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Interesting stuff and more plot and stuff and uh...stuff. :D Enjoy!

Princely Garbs 40

It wasn't bad even if Roxas found himself standing awkwardly with Axel at his side. The music sounded beautiful even though the band, Demyx included, had only practiced for a day. A few people around them were starting to move and to dance to the music while some took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat and drink themselves silly.

He frowned. He'd never danced before. Mickey had to have known he didn't know how to dance. For light's sake, he'd been part of the Organization for how many years? What made them think he could dance?

The ground started to glow as people started to dance around him. He'd never see anything like it and assumed it came from the happiness of the festival goers. Maybe this festival really was the perfect healing process.

"Are you going to dance?" Axel asked him, smiling down at him.

Roxas blushed at the question staring up at him like he was an idiot. "Are you insane? I can't dance!"

"How do you know if you've never tried before?" Axel asked and reached down grabbing Roxas's hand.

"B-But-"

"Trust me," Axel said easily pulling Roxas to him. "You'll be fine."

Roxas reddened when he felt Axel's hands on his waist. "Yeah...but…what if someone sees?" Was he embarrassed? He'd never felt that feeling before, but he didn't like it even if Axel did find amusement in his discomfort.

"They won't be watching," Then Axel started to move. He moved like a person who was skilled at dancing. It made Roxas wonder if Axel had learned these skills for the Organization. It'd make sense…he was good at this.

Roxas couldn't keep his heart from thundering in his chest at Axel's close vicinity. He found himself swaying with the tall red head. It gave him the best feeling he'd ever had in his life. He felt his body starting to glow and after that nothing but the bliss of being close to his loved ones as his lips met Axel's.

* * *

Sora blushed staring around him at all the dancers. The floor was lit like it was on fire and getting brighter. They wouldn't need candles tonight. When his eyes found his brother's, his cheeks got even redder. His brother was dancing with Axel as the two kissed and held each other. The sight of Roxas's happiness made his chest swell. He felt glad to see his brother finally starting to live.

He became aware that he was being watched and looked back seeing Riku staring at him. His cheeks flushed but he didn't turn away even as he watched Riku walk closer and wrap his arms around him.

Sora's heart felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth. Well it might as well have since it prevented him from getting any coherent words out.

They were starting to sway to the music together. He felt like all his worries were melting away. When Riku leaned down and kissed him, all of his feelings seemed to explode from him.

The light flowed from his body in a nonstop wave. It surrounded the two of them, crawling over their skin like white snakes, warm to the touch. The ground was nothing more than a beacon flashing brightly as small balls of light floated up from it like snow flowing backwards. The small robs floated around the people giving off its own warmth that added to the heat of the dance.

Riku's eyes closed as the combination of darkness and light started to flow from him. None of the others seemed to see it, each lost in the feel of the music moving their bodies. Sora smiled being enveloped in the darkness. It didn't threaten him, caressing against his skin feeling as warm as the light did to him. He wondered why it felt so different from the angry, greedy darkness that Sephiroth had.

Sora's crown necklace heated up against his chest in response to the power of light and darkness. It floated up hovering in the air in front of him. He reached his hand out to grab hold of it, his fingers just barely brushing against the warm metal before he saw movement from the corner of his eyes.

He turned his head to look and felt sure his eyes would fall from his head at how wide they were. Shimmering white forms were surrounding them, no not just them but everyone at the festival. They were opaque, the features on their faces just barely giving off enough detail for him to see the facial expressions. He recognized some of the faces as people from Radiant Garden…people who had died…people that shouldn't have been there right now.

They all looked at them, stared at them with dead eyes and frowns that sent a shiver through Sora's body. Sora found himself pressing tighter to Riku and wrapping his arms around him holding his shirt tight to try to hide from the eyes. It didn't help…even with his eyes closed and his face pressed tight to Riku's chest, he could still the eyes in the darkness behind his closed lids.

"Sora?" Riku asked making Sora jump when he rested his hands on his shoulders. "You ok?"

"I…just…" Sora frowned and willed himself to look to his side. The figures were still there now, closer than before. He saw two familiar forms realizing they were his parents looking like exact duplicates of the photos that still hung on the palace walls. The mouths opened saying something to him, but he couldn't hear them.

"Sora?"

Another form stood close to Riku, hovering over him because of his height. The figure stared down at his grandson, the same frown and bland eyes on his face as he opened his mouth saying something unheard to. Then the figure looked at him and Sora's whole body tensed up.

"…Maybe you need to sit and rest a moment."

"You…you can't see them?" Sora asked looking up at Riku then around at the figures. They were still moving closer, still staring.

"See what?" Riku stared down at him. Sora didn't respond, but he did jump when he felt Riku's hand cup his cheek. The action was enough to make him focus on Riku, at least a little bit. "Sora, what's wrong? What do you see?"

"I…I don't know…" He licked his drying lips, his eyes flickered to the side before Riku cupped both cheeks and leaned closer so there was no where he could look but up into Riku's eyes. "I see…people…people that shouldn't be here."

"What do you mean?"

Sora shook his head and looked down at his feet swallowing when he saw King Ansem hovering behind Riku staring down at him. "The dead…" Sora whispered. His body swayed and for a moment he thought he'd lose consciousness.

"Sora? Sora!"

"I…I'm fine," Sora said. He lied. He felt tired…scared…confused…lost…exhausted. He tried to push back, to stand on his own before the two arms encircling him kept him close. He was losing himself but he didn't know why. All he could see was darkness…darkness and the stare of vacant eyes that surrounded him.

* * *

"Tidus, come on! We have to gather more flowers!" Selphie yelled out stomping her foot. The morning sun tried to blind him, but Tidus saw the action perfectly.

"I really don't want do this girly thing," Tidus whined. "Can't we just get something better than flowers?"

"It has to be flowers otherwise it won't mean anything," she whined in return resting her hands on her hips trying her best to look intimidating. Tidus sighed then shoved his hands into his pockets looking down as he kicked a rock by his feet.

"But this is stupid. It's not going to help at all."

"If you don't help pick some flowers, I'm going to tell Seifer that you're being a mean old poopy head." She puffed her cheeks out reminding him a five year old child not getting the candy they wanted.

"Alright alright….and I'm not a poopy head." Tidus stuck his tongue out at her only to get the same in return. He huffed grumbling under his breath as he went off towards another batch of flowers pretending to be looking at them even though he could care less about them. His mind stayed glued to what happened last night.

Last night had been weird. It'd started out perfect. He'd spent time alone with Seifer and revel in the fact that the other liked him. Even now it made his cheeks red and his chest pump with satisfaction and excitement. Things had been going smoothly, the music playing and the people dancing. The floor did cool things glowing brightly and sending white orbs floating towards the sky.

It went horribly wrong in an instant. One moment everyone cheered and laughed and carried on in typical festival fashion. The next, Sora passed out causing a load of panic in the city. Riku rushed him towards the palace, but not before Tidus had caught a glance of the darkness circling around Riku's body.

Tidus shuddered and glanced back towards Selphie. He didn't want to think about that, about the fact that Riku's eyes suddenly glowed yellow like a monsters. So yeah…that's why they were gathering flowers. Sora was still unconscious but they wanted to give him something to help him cheer up when he woke up. Except…flowers were a stupid idea.

Selphie wasn't paying attention to him…that's good. He was near a tall fence surrounding the garden now. He could easily climb over it to the other side to escape. He glanced back again, just to make sure she wasn't looking before he bolted running quickly and jumping pulling himself up over the fence.

The street he landed on lay vacant. It didn't surprise him since Selphie and he had picked the quieter part of the city to look for flowers. Everyone else had decided on other ways to give their gifts. The festival had continued on, though it became obvious the people didn't feel up to it. If not for the coaxing of King Mickey about how Sora wouldn't have wanted them to stop the festival on his behalf, most of the people would have left.

With Roxas's agreement, the festival had continued on into the early part of the morning. That didn't mean that King Mickey, Roxas, and the others of their friends hadn't snuck off at one point or another to check on the young prince.

Tidus started walking, staring at the fence to see if there was an opening indicating where Selphie was standing. He bumped into something soft and had to reach out a hand to press it against the fence to stop himself from falling off balance.

"Ah, sorr-" Tidus let the words die on his lips before he frowned getting a glimpse of the person. From the looks of the wide shoulders it was a man, though he couldn't tell for the black hood adorning the person's head. "Are you ok?" The person didn't even look at him only turning to look away from him, as if the shadows of the hood didn't made it hard for Tidus to see who it was. He'd been able to see the lips though, a pair of lips that smirked.

"Hey, you're not hurt are you?"

Tidus frowned walked to be in front of him. The person's head stayed tilted down towards the ground. Still there was no response. Did the person even hear what he said? Tidus started to lean over to look underneath the hood.

"Idiot, what are you doing here?"

"Ow!" Tidus rubbed his head and pouted as he turned around looking up at Seifer. The older boy looked frustrated, his eye twitching as he glared down at him. "What was that for?"

"Selphie told me you ran away," Seifer said looking like the most pissed off person in the world. It made Tidus wince to imagine the trouble Seifer had to go through dealing with Selphie. Still…he had no regrets. He hated picking flowers. It was stupid simple as that. "So I'm hitting you for making me have to deal with her crap."

'Then you should have been here to look at flowers with me." He pushed his lips out. "So I wouldn't be bored."

"You're a pain in the butt, you know that?" Despite the harsh words, he rested his hand on Tidus's head petting his hair in an affectionate manner. "Let's go before she drives me even more nuts."

"Ah wait! Let me see if this guy's ok?"

"What guy?"

Tidus blinked up at him as if he were stupid. "What do you mean what guy? He's standing right here."

"…There wasn't anyone here but you when I got here." Sure enough, the place where the person had been standing was vacant.

"…" Tidus reached up rubbing his head. Was he going crazy? First Riku with his crazy yes, and now the vanishing man that no one else saw but him. "What he was just…gah, whatever! Let's just get out of here before Selphie finds us."

"That's the only smart thing you've ever said since I've known you," Seifer said smirking.

"Hey!"

TBC….

And this is where I'll end this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I getting new ideas for this x.x this so shoulda been finished by now…gah….damn plots…..and surprise visits from relatives -_- Horrible…simply horrible.


	41. Princely Garbs 41

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay update!

Princely Garbs 41

He could see the ghostly forms moving closer to Riku. They stared at him with suspicion. It confused Sora and put him on alert. Riku wasn't looking at him but down at the ground, which only bothered him further. Sora couldn't move…but he couldn't figure out if the blame lay with the ghostly forms blocking his way to Riku or his own fear of seeing the forms of people he knew to be dead.

Without warning the ghosts shrank away from the older prince, their opaque forms quivering. Riku's body appeared to glow in the darkness as the light seeped from his body vanishing.

"Riku…?" Sora spoke the name softly hoping not to bring the ghosts' attention towards him.

The taller boy must have heard his voice because he lifted his head looking at him curiously. He seemed surprise to see the young Kingdom Heart's prince there but he also looked sad and helpless and lost. Then his eyes widened in alert.

The older boy clenched his chest with both hands panting, looking more in pain as he tried. When he looked up at Sora, his eyes seemed to scream for help before they slowly changed to a yellow color. His outward appearance seemed to change. A sadistic grin lifted to his lips startling Sora. Yellow eyes glowed where just moments before it had been the pretty dark blue Sora loved. His skin seemed darker though it may have been for the lack of light from his body. He looked mad like a crazed person. And then he didn't seem like Riku at all anymore but like someone sinister.

Sora panicked seeing the change and broke free of the hold on him starting to run to him. He needed to reach him. He felt like something bad would happen if he didn't.

"Riku!"

THUMP.

"Sora!"

Sora opened his eyes at the voice, looking around wildly and finding himself…in a room? It was the same room he'd been in before when he first woke up after Sephiroth's defeat. But what was he doing here now? And on top of that, he was on lying on the floor looking up at the bed that he must have fallen from. That would explain why his back hurt then.

"You ok?"

Sora looked up at dark blue eyes then swallowed breathing hard. Riku stared at him with worry reflected in his eyes, the same eyes that not even moments before had been yellow with the gleam of disaster. "R…Riku?"

Had he been dreaming the whole thing up? If so, that had to have been the most horrifying nightmare he'd ever had. He'd rather the images could burn themselves from his head. Of course, something like that could never happen.

"You ok?" Riku asked him again, sounding genuinely concerned. It wasn't sinister. Riku didn't look like he planned to burn the whole world down.

"I…I'm fine." Sora rested a hand on his head woozy from suddenly jumping up. "Where…what happened?"

"You passed out." Riku frowned staring at him. It made him squirm though not necessarily from discomfort. "You sure you're ok?"

Sora nodded his head. He was worried that he'd dreamed up the whole thing since his battle with Sephiroth. If that was the case, then the whole confession that Riku had given him at the festival hadn't been real. He'd rather the horrible image of Riku becoming evil were fake. But he didn't think he'd survive if Riku's confession had been something he'd fabricated in desperation.

Then he felt the soft lips on his and felt like he would lose himself to it. It was definitely the reassurance Sora needed at that moment. He started to reach out to touch Riku but instead just leaned closer to deeper the kiss. Who knew such a simple move would make him forget all his worries instantly.

Riku broke the kiss only because the two of them needed to breath. It'd stolen Sora's breath away but the young brunet didn't mind. He'd happily live on Riku's kisses the rest of his life if he could.

"Get some rest," Riku said helping Sora back into the bed. When Riku started to back up, Sora grabbed his arm looking up at him with pleading eyes. Riku seemed startled by the action but it only made Sora hold onto him that much tighter.

"Stay with me?" he said softly, surprised he'd maintained eye contact with the older boy. Maybe it was because the dream was still bothering him, but he was afraid to see Riku leave. Somewhere deep down he was worried the other wouldn't return if he did. Or at least he wouldn't return as himself.

Riku flushed but he didn't hesitate to climb into the bed with him. Maybe he hadn't wanted to be far away from Sora either. The thought made Sora smile as he curled up against him. When Riku wrapped his arms around him, Sora relaxed letting his mind wonder.

If it hadn't been a dream then, what had that been? Maybe all the light from the dance affected him. But he'd never seen anything like it before…so many bodies…so many of the dead. A small portion of them had been from Radiant Garden, but the others…were they the people of Kingdom Hearts? And then his parents and King Ansem…why had they come? What had they tried to say to him?

"You asked me during the dance if I saw anything," Riku said gently rubbing Sora's back. He felt like he could fall asleep at any moment but Riku's voice kept him floating on the surface of consciousness. "What did you see?"

"…" He hesitated wondering exactly how to say it without looking like he was losing his mind. "My…my parents."

He could feel Riku staring down at him, the hand on his back going still for a moment before continuing brush his back. "Your parents?"

Sora nodded his head and sighed. "I know it sounds crazy but…I saw them. They were there…as ghost…"

"…Did you see anything else?"

"…People…lots of ghostly people and…and King Ansem…." Sora felt Riku tense next to him, but he didn't stop talking, he couldn't when he had so much going on in his head. "They all looked sad…and horrified."

Sora looked up at Riku's blue eyes realizing then that he had been staring…intensely. For a moment it startled Sora to recognize the look, the look from his dream, but when he blinked the look wasn't there.

He must be tired. Either that or he was going mad.

"They were afraid of you…then you started to change because of the darkness and you started to lose your light. It felt like you had become…evil."

"I won't change," Riku reassured him. "I could never hurt my friends or you."

Sora blushed. "Me?"

"The…other half of my heart," Riku said blushing with embarrassment. "Because I'd be nothing without you. The darkness will never control me. Not again."

Sora couldn't help it. The words felt so true he couldn't help but to believe them. It was just a nightmare. Nothing like that could ever happen. There was no way Riku would ever become like that.

The knock at the door startled the two of them forcing them to sit up. Sora looked at Riku who stared at him in return. When Sora nodded his head, Riku turned his head to the door.

"Come in," Riku said. He sounded tired. It made sense if Riku had been staying with him for…wait how long had he been out for this time?

The door opened emitting Roxas who slipped inside before letting the door shut behind him. He was alone. His shadow, Axel, wasn't with him which came as a surprise to Sora. It was rare to see his brother without the tall self-proclaimed protector at his side.

"How are you feeling?" Roxas asked heading over to him.

"Fine…I think." Sora frowned a bit. Or at least he was as fine as he could imagine. "Just a little tired…and freaked out."

"Freaked out?" Roxas tilted his head staring at him with worry and curiosity.

"Nothing to worry about," Sora reassured him quickly then gave his cheeky grin. "Just a bad dream." Sora felt Riku place a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at him offering him a softer smile. "So how is Axel doing? Did he enjoy the festival last night?"

"Actually, he's talking about it with the others right now." It wasn't hard to figure out that the others were the former Organization group. Even though the darkness was gone from their hearts, they continued to stay connected with each other. How could they not when they'd been there for who knows how many years.

The look on Roxas's face suggested the conversation was of something important. He started to ask about it, but Riku beat him to it.

"Did something happen?" Riku asked then frowned and slipped from the bed to stand. Sora stayed put, not really wanting to vacant the comfort of the warm bed. He couldn't help glancing around him though. Even if it had been a dream, he couldn't help the feeling that he was still being watched. It sent a shiver through his body. Maybe that's why he'd had such a funny dream.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself over," Roxas said, though the way he said it, it was obvious he was hiding something. Roxas turned his attention to Sora then, even as the guarded look stayed on his face. He even offered a smile as he changed the flow of conversation. "I'm glad to see you're feeling ok after last night." A small smile graced his lips and he reached out gently petting Sora's wild hair. "So…what weird you out?"

"…" Sora looked at Riku then at Roxas again. "Ghost…" he said simply hoping he didn't sound like an idiot.

"…Ghost?" Had it been anyone else, they would have laughed at him and told him there was no such thing as ghosts. But Roxas, he learned, took a lot of things seriously. Maybe because he'd seen so much being in the Organization that nothing was impossible to him. When creatures could appear out of the ground in front of you and attack you, ghost seemed like a small thing. Sora sort of felt silly even speaking of it now.

He took his time anyway, explaining to Roxas everything that had happened. He started from the time he started to see the ghost to the description of Riku's look when he'd become evil.

"Hm." Roxas frowned. "You don't see anything right now though?" Sora glanced around quickly to confirm it himself before he looked at them both again and shook his head. There was nothing there. It definitely had been caused by the effects of the festival. It made sense why he'd never experienced anything like it before.

"Do you think they were trying to warn you about something?"

"I don't know but if so…"they both looked at Riku who blinked at the sudden attention. If the ghost were warning him about something, then it was obvious they'd be trying to tell him about Riku. This is assuming it all wasn't a dream to begin with. Still it couldn't hurt to be safe. If somehow Riku was trying to be controlled by the darkness, then Sora would use his light to stop it again like he did last time.

"I'm fine," Riku said quickly then smiled rubbing Sora's head affectionately. "Nothing's going to happen. You defeated Sephiroth, remember? And the Organization isn't being controlled by the darkness anymore. So there's nothing to worry about."

"I hope so," Sora said pulling Riku's hand to his cheek and nuzzling it.

Riku smiled at the action gently cupping his cheek before he pulled his hand away when Roxas cleared his throat. "Come on. Let's go let everyone see you're ok." Riku reached out a hand to help Sora to stand.

"Actually," Roxas cut in quickly before Sora could respond, the young brunet holding Riku's hand as he was pulled from the warmth of the sheets. "King Mickey said he wanted to see us in the conference room when you woke up." Roxas grimaced looking at Sora. "Just us."

Sora frowned looking at Riku who was staring at Roxas as if he'd just uttered a curse. Not that Sora wasn't upset too. He wanted to spend more time with Riku. It was to be expected since they barely ever got to be alone together. The moment before Roxas showed up was probably the longest they'd had together since this all began.

"It's fine," Riku said when he saw Sora looking at him and pouting. "I'll go check on the others and tell them how you're doing while you're talking." Riku smiled at him. Sora couldn't stop from giving him the cheeky grin back. Even his hair seemed happy as it bounced when he gave a nod of his head.

"Alright." Sora gently gave the hand he was holding a squeeze before letting it go. "See you soon." He turned to look Roxas, finding the other staring at Riku warily before looking at Sora and smiling. He was definitely finding all of this really weird. When had Roxas ever given Riku a look like that? Did he disapprove of their being together?

"Let's go," Roxas said and turned heading for the door. Sora didn't say anything in return but followed after the other, pondering over the look.

Riku followed them to the door to see them out. Sora turned to tell him bye but his voice stayed stuck in his throat. Riku was smiling at him, yellow eyes staring at him through the gap of the closing door before it shut silently.

TBC…

So many directions I keep going with this chapter but I think I've finally settled on something with this :D Yay! Lol and I even updated stuff again right before post time. Blah, so many different ways this can go.


	42. Princely Garbs 42

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Woot! Do people even say woot anymore? x.x

Princely Garbs 42

Seifer frowned looking down at the pile of junk the others of Tidus's friends had collected as gifts for Sora. Selphie's version of collecting flowers consisted of weeds and piles of dirt and worms collected at the bottom of each stem. It looked like nothing more than bouquet of mess. Heck, he could have done a better job and he wasn't even into flower picking.

Wakka and Tidus, after his grand escape from Selphie, turned out to pick the exact same item of rocks collecting. Except, Tidus said his was better because he found a turtle shell as well. He was quite the smug one, not that Seifer wasn't proud in some way. His boyfriend was just better at picking up trash, that's all. He tried not to think about how weird it was to call Tidus his boyfriend now and instead looked over to Kairi.

Kairi's gift consisted of beautifully made sea shell necklaces. Out of all the junk he'd seen, this was obviously the best one. The girl had talent, especially to be able to finish it all by this morning. She didn't even seem tired.

"…Besides Kairi's, the rest of this stuff is crap," Seifer said shaking his head. "You might as well make a mud pie to add to this heap."

"I did!" Selphie said proudly before she pouted realizing he'd just insulted their collection. "Hey! Don't talk about our treasure!"

"Yeah, Seifer! This took a lot of hard work!" Tidus joined in pouting as well. "You didn't say anything about it when I started picking out these rocks!" Honestly, the only reason he let it continue on from the start was because Tidus looked cute when excited…and it gave him an excuse to stare at the other's butt without being noticed.

"Because idiots have to learn not to be idiots on their own." He rapped his knuckles against both Tidus's and Selphie's skulls before he looked at Wakka holding up his prepared knuckles. "You want one of these too?"

"Nah, man, I'm fine ya," Wakka said quickly holding up his hands defensively. The guy was smart…weird, but smart. Well, except when it came to picking up rocks as gifts.

"Stop being a bully, Seifer," Tidus whined rubbing at his head.

"I'll stop being a bully when you stop being an idiot," He started to knock on his head again but paused and looked up seeing familiar red hair heading their way. Well this was interesting. He wasn't used to seeing the male without his little partner beside him.

"Yo," Axel said stopping a couple of feet from the small group and grinning as he waved a hand at them. "Sorry if I'm interrupting your special group meeting but I'm on a mission to find someone."

"Find someone?" Kairi asked holding the two shell necklaces to her chest. Seifer knew one of them had to be for Sora but he doubted she'd made him two. Who was the other recipient? "Who are you looking for?"

"That's the thing…I don't really know," Axel said then yawned slightly looking both bored and sleepy…actually he always looked sleepy. Seifer wouldn't have taken him seriously if not for the words themselves. Even with the sleepy look, he could tell that Axel was fully alert. He was once part of the Organization. Of course they knew how to stay alert without looking like it. They were trained like soldiers, just like Seifer. Even now, Seifer stayed at full attention always wary of an attack even if there was none in sight. It helped to always be prepared at all times, something Tidus still hadn't learned.

"How can you not know?" Selphie asked bobbing her head from side to the side like a hyperactive dog. Well that would explain her bouncing off the wall energy. Could someone really be that energetic at all times?

"Because it's not really a person…more like a feeling someone I know got from this person." They all looked at him like he was an idiot. Seifer couldn't blame them though. He was an idiot. Instead of explaining, Axel just shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. Well that was one way to solve a problem. "Anyway, have you guys seen any strange things lately? Could be anything. Flying tables, talking bats, weirdoes walking around black robes with hoods up, the usual."

Seifer glanced over at Tidus. He remembered sneaking up on Tidus while he was in the middle of sneaking away from flower picking duties. The boy had told him he'd met a man there, a man Seifer didn't see at all when he'd shown up. Was it possible that was the same person Axel was looking for now? What was going on? It definitely felt like something weird was happening ever since Sora passed out at the festival last night.

"I haven't seen anything," Kairi said softly then looked at Selphie. "What about you, Selphie?"

"Nope, nothing! Wakka?"

"Haven't seen anything either, ya."

"Mmm…nothing I can think of," Tidus said casually shrugging his shoulders. Seifer stared at him. Was this boy really that much of an idiot? Seifer had to resist the urge to smack him in the back of the head. He could feel the headache coming on and reached up rubbing at his forehead tiredly.

"Tidus, didn't you say you saw a man earlier?"

"Hm?" Tidus looked up at Seifer in confusion before it dawned on him. "Oh yeah!" Tidus brought a fist down into his palm. Idiot. "That man from earlier! The one with the black robe on!"

"So you did see someone?" Axel asked with his attention fully on the young blond male. "What did he look like?"

"Uh…I don't really know," Tidus frowned then. "He was looking down and had his hood up. After Seifer showed up, he disappeared. Or well…I assume it was a he. "

"So whoever it was is already in the city."

"Is there a reason you're looking for this person?" Kairi asked.

"Hm?" Axel looked at her blinking as if just now seeing her before he shook his head smiling. "Sorry, nothing you need to worry about." He turned around starting to walk away from them. "Anyway, toodles. I have more things I need to take care of."

Seifer frowned then rested a hand on Tidus's shoulder slipping past him. "Wait here," he said to the younger group as he walked after Axel, only catching up to him once he was sure the others were out of hearing range. The way Axel slowed down in walking meant he probably knew the other would come after him. He'd learned from Riku and Sora how crafty this one could be which only made it good that he wasn't being controlled by the darkness anymore.

"What are you hiding?" Seifer demanded reaching out and turning the other around to face him.

The red head had a smirk on his face which only made Seifer scowl. The red head irked him in ways he didn't know possible. But he was smart too. If not for Roxas, it made Seifer wonder at times if Axel would be fighting against them just for the enjoyment.

"Did you see anything strange last night?" Axel asked him casually, reaching up to scratch his scalp. "About your young prince I mean."

Seifer frowned thinking back to the dance. Aside from Riku having his darkness swirling around him, something the group of them had become accustomed to, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The young prince had been using the darkness since his return, showing them all that it didn't pose a threat to him. It didn't try to take him over and at the same time Seifer didn't feel any malicious needs from it like he had in the past. It was safe to say it was harmless. Last night's had felt no different.

But Tidus had noticed something Seifer had let slip past him when Riku ran past with the comatose Sora. Seifer didn't put it beyond being Tidus's imagination going wild though.

"Yeah, Tidus saw something," Seifer said using his words carefully. "What of it?"

"Keep an eye on Riku," Axel said instead. "His body's going through some…usual changes."

"…Seriously, I didn't need to hear that," Seifer frowned shaking the images from his head the words had produced.

"Not like that, idiot," Axel yelled out then coughed to regain his composure. Hm, so he could lose his temper too. Well this could get interesting later. "Strange things are happening because of the darkness. Just make sure to keep an eye out for anything unusual, got that?" Axel tapped his head sarcastically. Seifer didn't take to the action well. He hated being treated like an idiot even if he treated everyone else like one.

"Fine, I'll keep surveillance on things here. Now get out of my sight before I give you something to whine about. Got that?" Seifer returned the action, though it produced more frustration to him as Axel just smirked in return.

"Heh." Axel laughed before he turned and ran off leaving Seifer behind to ponder over his words.

* * *

"You can't mean that!" Sora stared at Mickey in disbelief. "You can't!"

"It's the only option left to us until we can figure out how to stop it," Mickey said sounding as calm as ever. Sora's outburst didn't faze him a bit. In fact everyone present in the room, his brother, Leon, Cloud and Auron, stayed at their most relaxed.

"But-"

"If we don't do this, then it will never be fixed." Sora knew it was true, even if he hated to admit it. He frowned then flopped back down into the chair behind him. The whole conversation involved Riku and his darkness. Apparently, Sora's suspicions of the darkness trying to control Riku were true. Everyone at one point had noticed the yellow eyes, even before the party had begun. For Sora, this was his first hearing of it and he hated it.

"It will only be temporary, until we figure out where to go from here," Mickey said, his voice and demeanor composed. Because Mickey didn't get angry in return, it forced Sora to relax and to truly think about it. Mickey wasn't a king for nothing. He knew what he was doing and controlled the situation as only a king could.

"So we're going to trap him and force him to sleep?" Roxas asked glancing at Sora before looking at Mickey. Even Roxas seemed wary of Riku's newfound ability, which explained why he had given Riku that look earlier. Did none of them trust Riku?

"Right now it's our only option," Auron said pushing from the wall. His eye glanced in the direction of Leon and Cloud before looking back at Roxas and Sora. "But we can't let him know what we're doing otherwise the darkness will take over and stop it."

"That's why we have you taking care of distracting him," Mickey said smiling kindly and patting his head. "You're the only one he'll listen to with an open heart."

"We'll trap him down near the Door to Light and use Luxord's ability to control time to keep him there."

"Then?"

"Then…" Mickey said looking serious suddenly. "We'll stop the darkness in his heart with everything we have for good."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Cloud said pushing up from the table and started for the door.

Leon looked after Cloud before he walked towards the group. "You said one of those guys from the Organization felt something moving around last night, right?" he asked, still stuck on calling them the Organization. It was just a habit that would take a while to grow out off.

"Zexion," Roxas said nodding his head. "He's able to smell the darkness in others. He said he smelled something last night, someone unfamiliar to him." Sora tilted his head thinking back. He remembered Zexion, the one that had helped the group of them to get to Sephiroth and Xemnas. Or was it just Sephiroth now? That thought confused Sora's brain so he just stopped thinking about it.

"Hm…can't he find him now?" Sora asked.

"No…he lost the scent…" Roxas said frowning. "Either the person has left the city or…"

"Or they're hiding," Auron said glancing around as if he'd be able to find him now.

Leon looked at Mickey. "Cloud and I will keep an eye on Riku until it's time. We'll help the Organization find this mystery person later."

"As Cloud said earlier, that sounds like a plan." Mickey smiled at him before looking down at Sora and resting a hand on his shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry we're going to take care of it all. You just have to trust us."

"I hope you're right," Sora said and watched as Leon was heading for the door. "Because I really don't want to lose Riku again, darkness or not."

"Don't worry," Roxas said smiling making Sora smile with him. "He'll be fine."

"Yeah," Sora sighed then pushed his sleeves up looking at the door. There was no reason to hold back. They might as well get this done as soon as possible. "Alright, let's get this over with then."

TBC…

Yay another chapter that like stuff happened in! And my nose is all dry and stuff. Allergies suck! Anyways, hope you're enjoying the read!


	43. Princely Garbs 43

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay first long...er chapter in a long...er while! :D

Princely Garbs 43

When Cloud left the small meeting room to look for Riku, he hadn't expected for Leon to be right behind him within minutes of his leaving. The look on the other's face stayed neutral, but when Cloud glanced over at him he could see the worry in his eyes. How could he not be worried? His prince, the prince he'd sworn to protect from the first day he was born, was now in danger of losing himself.

Though Cloud hadn't lived in Kingdom Hearts nearly as long, he felt his own dedication to the prince's safety. The safety of the princes, of all three princes, rested in their hands. As it lay now, not only was Riku in danger because of the darkness. Sora would be placed in danger as well being this close to the source of that darkness and by default that would also be putting Roxas in harm's way.

If he could have found an easier solution, Cloud would readily take it. But what other option did he have? The only way to fight darkness was to use light. The only people that could produce the amount of light to fight the darkness that Riku no doubt possessed, was the royal family of Kingdom Hearts. And the only one capable of reaching Riku's heart now, was Sora. He hated to admit it, but there was little they could do to protect Sora now. They'd only be getting in his way.

"We'll protect them," Leon said startling him with the sudden speech. He glanced to the side looking up at the other man but the brooding commander kept looking straight ahead as they walked. "We'll protect them all by giving them all the light we have."

Cloud thought about it a moment before he nodded his head. That's right, they could still help. If they let Sora borrow their light like they did before in the fight with Sephiroth, they should have no problems. Sora was strong. There was no way he'd give up a fight like this. Sora wanted to protect everyone, and so they would protect him in their own way by using their light as a shield for him.

Movement. Had he not glanced at Leon right at that time with the small on his face, he would have missed it. There, ducking around the corner, he saw the telltale of a black robe grazing against the marble floor. It came so suddenly, he froze in place staring.

"Cloud? Cloud, what's-hey!"

He didn't stop at Leon's outburst as he flew past him heading to the corner of the hallway. "I saw something!" That was all it took for him to hear the sound of the commander on his heels as he kept on running.

He rounded the corner just in time to see the tail end of the dark cloth going around yet another corner. Kingdom Hearts wasn't a small kingdom. The same could be said of the palace as well, which was why he found himself going around corner after corner after corner.

In all reality, a normal person would be lost now. But for Cloud, this was home. He'd been raised here in this country and trained young to become a soldier in the king's army. But he'd become the second in command the day he'd met Tsunami's father. But that was a story for another time. Right now, he was wondering why somehow this felt familiar to him. This path…was familiar. He'd come this way before when a certain prince and his brother wanted to sneak out the palace for the day and cause mischief.

"King Tsunami?"

No, it couldn't be. Yet the path they were taking was one only few knew. Not just anyone knew about the location they were in, the location that stayed hidden behind the pantry of the kitchen. As the figure before them moved, Cloud found it harder and harder to keep up. Even after he couldn't see the cloth around the corner anymore, he knew the way to go, making the turns as his memories kicked in.

Then Cloud stopped. He stopped so abruptly that Leon ran into him forcing him into taking two more extra steps. A dead end…or to anyone else it would have looked like it. The figure he'd been chasing wasn't in sight.

"Where'd he go?" Leon asked him. Cloud shook his head but he didn't give him a response, walking forward and pressing his fingers against the rough stone of the wall until he felt the small switch he was looking for. As the wall popped loose and slide to the side revealing the exit to the outside world. Quietly he slipped out through the exit, the sound of panting reaching his ears. He pulled Leon behind him moving silently across the grass as he came to stand behind the escapee who was leaning over panting heavily.

Cloud's lips pulled down with a frown as he stared at the stranger's back. The dark robes covered the form, black hood pulled up. The person was definitely too large too tall to be King Tsunami, but they still gave him the feeling of someone familiar. Still the man person, a man it sounded like, panted resting hands on his knees as he tried to catch breath. For a moment Cloud thought of it being someone from the Organization, but he didn't hesitate to pull his sword out from behind his back, drawing the man's attention. The man stood up straight but kept his back to him.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked as Leon followed suit pulling free his own blade.

"You got me you got me. I give up." The man turned around holding up his arms in defeat and Cloud's eyes widened at not only the man's voice but his features as well. He almost believed he'd just been hearing things. That voice, the stance, the bright eager eyes, he remembered them now.

"You…you're still alive?" The revelation still confused him. He couldn't see it being physically possible. "King Zack?"

"King?" Leon asked looking over at the other man suspiciously, still holding his blade.

"Cloud?" The past king stared at him in surprise as he lowered his hands down. "Is that really -whoa, don't cry!" He sounded shocked, holding up his hands again though this time trying to calm down the blond man down.

Cloud didn't even realize he was crying till Zack said something. When he reached up he felt the wetness on his cheeks before scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeve. He could imagine the confused and probably shocked look on Leon's face at the sight.

Cloud didn't cry. Cloud never cried. Cloud was one of the most emotionally detached people around beside Leon himself. So for Cloud to actually break down and cry must have meant something serious.

And indeed, he did break down. The tears didn't stop no matter how hard he tried. Maybe everything he'd been through was crashing down on him all at one time. From king Tsunami's death, to finding out he was the cause, to almost killing both sons of Tsunami to die. Even the fact that Leon like him was factored in to it. And he wasn't even about to go into the fact that Auron was found alive after all these years.

"Cloud…" He saw Leon's hand lifted up hesitantly, looking lost as to what to do. They were, after all, still learning how to show emotions to each other. Leon seemed to come to a solution as he glared at Zack angrily making the other wilt and back up a bit at the look. "What the hell did you do to him?" Crap, this couldn't be a good sign.

"Me?" Zack looked shocked. "Wha-I didn't…I mean…"

"It's not his fault." Well some of it was. "Sorry…it's…well a lot of things." Cloud looked up at Leon and felt his knees try to buckle. He'd never seen such a look of concern on that usually chiseled face before. But he wished he could forever keep that image locked away. "I-I'm ok now."

"Are you sure?" Leon looked ready to grab him up and lock him away behind closed doors. And for a moment…Cloud contemplated letting him do just that. Instead, Cloud just nodded his head clearing his throat.

"I'm fine," though his voice still cracked. He offered Leon a small smile before he looked over at Zack, using his former king as a distraction. The man had grown in the last few years. He was taller than Cloud remembered and seemed far more mature, looking like an older version of what Tsunami used to look like except with black hair. The word strange ran through Cloud's head at how suddenly Zack had shown up after all these years. He'd been missing for at least five years before all the stuff that happened at Kingdom Hearts. It reminded Cloud of how Roxas had been missing, except Roxas had been a child during his kidnapping.

"How…? When…?"

"When did I get here?" Zack finished for him looking like an older version of Sora with his hands behind his head. "How did I get here?"

"…What happened?" Cloud settled with asking. Where had Zack been during all of this? Why after everything that happened, including the death of his own brother, did he show up now?

"I…was chasing the darkness," Zack said eyes growing dark.

"Chasing the darkness?" Cloud asked. He'd calmed down enough to gather his composure now. Leon's presence beside him helped. Zack's eyes didn't seem to miss Leon's closeness to Cloud but he said nothing of it, though Cloud was sure he'd bug him for the details later. Well if the was anything like he was before he left anyway.

"I've been trapped away in another world for a long time thanks to Sephiroth." Zack said shaking his head as if it confused him too. "It's weird but a door appeared recent while I was there and I was able to return to this world." He looked up at them both frowning, and looking at Leon trying to figure out who he was. "When I left I was chasing something…someone from the darkness. A man…or a woman…I don't really know. Anyway, he or it is dangerous and it came here. It's looking for something in Kingdom Hearts. That's why I'm looking around now. But I've lost the trail."

"What exactly is he…it…looking for?" Leon asked him, grunting in frustration at the confusion as he reached up rubbing at his temple. Cloud stared at him sympathetic. This was a lot to take in all at once. He felt like he could use a great deal of rest himself. But now wasn't the time for rest, not when they had so much to do.

"Argh! Can't believe I lost it!" Zack yelled out clutching at his hair before he started to do squats. Even now it looked funny to Cloud, seeing the older male bending his knees and swinging his arms breathing out of his mouth, something all the soldiers at Kingdom Hearts had been familiar. Zack always did this, though he did it more when he was restless or frustrated or trying to think of something.

"What is this…thing?" Cloud started to ask but Leon beat him to it and the two glanced at each other. Cloud knew he face must have reddened then as he looked back at Zack quickly for a distraction. He felt even more antsy around Leon than he'd ever felt before.

"It's here, though! I just know it! I felt it!"

"What is it?" Leon asked more forcefully and reached out grabbing Zack's shoulder. The black haired male's eyes glowed bright and Cloud could feel the pressure of the light around them before Zack's eyes dimmed. Leon must have felt it too because he withdrew his hand quickly. Zack didn't respond to the action immediately, blinking his eyes rapidly before he looked at the two of them.

"Sorry, force of habit," Zack said smiling sheepishly once he'd come back to himself. Cloud frowned slightly. Zack had just tapped into the power of light without using the keyblade. He hadn't been able to do that before and even for the royal blood it was rare. It took a lot of skill to be able to do it and Cloud had never seen it done in his lifetime. What kind of training had he been through? What world had he been trapped in to cause him to become so defensive?

"You said it was here," Cloud continued saving the questions he had about Zack for later. "What is it?"

"And how did you lose it?" Leon asked though he seemed wary of Zack. Cloud didn't blame him. It wasn't as if Leon had ever met this king of Kingdom Hearts before. Zack had probably disappeared before Leon had even made it to Radiant Garden.

"It disappeared," Zack said with a frown on his lips. Leon stared at him like he was an idiot. "No, really! It does this thing where it takes over the body of someone affected by the dark…ness." Zack trailed off at the look the two of them must have been giving him.

"Riku!" Cloud yelled instantly, looking over at Leon who nodded his head in agreement. This was the answer they were looking for! This…whatever it was that had set Zexion's senses off and had everyone on end. It must be the reason Riku was losing to his darkness! It was after Riku!

"Who?" Zack asked looking confused. Of course he didn't know who Riku was. He wouldn't know Sora and Roxas either being gone for so long.

"Come! We'll explain on the way!" Cloud said taking off, the other two not far behind him.

* * *

"Sora, you're ok!"

"Kairi!" When she ran into his arms he couldn't help wrapping his arms around her hugging her. She was important to him, being that she and Riku had always been there for him from the beginning. Roxas was standing beside him and smiling, which made Sora smile in return. Roxas was starting to open up more to the others and smile more which made Sora feel grateful to see the changes. Life was finally returning to his brother's eyes.

"How are ya feeling, ya?" Wakka asked walking over with the others who seemed just as eager as Kairi to see him. As Sora glanced around he could see the feelings of relief easily readable on everyone's face. They'd been truly worried about him. For that he couldn't help the swell of happiness in his heart.

"I'm fine," Sora said smiling. He looked around and frowned not seeing a hint of his best friend anywhere. "Have you guys seen Riku?" Riku had said he'd be talking to the others, so where was he? Why did Sora suddenly feel a chill go down his body at the fact the older boy wasn't where he should be?

"Nah, we thought he was with you," Tidus said frowning as well as if he could read Sora's mind. . Was he still in the room? Or was he wandering around looking for everyone? Or was it something even worse that Sora didn't want to imagine happening?

"I need to go find him," Sora said then turned around. He started to move to walk away but he felt his body stop when someone grabbed his arm. Glancing back he saw Kairi holding onto his arm looking up at him with the most worried expression on her face he'd ever seen. She was clutching something in her hand but he couldn't tell what it was. She must have seen where his eyes went because she quickly moved the hand behind her back, her cheeks reddening surprisingly.

"Let me go with you," Kairi said, putting on her most brave face which almost made Sora laugh if he weren't already worried about Riku. She must have seen the look on his face because she cling to his arm harder looking up at him desperately. There was no way he could say no to her, not with that look. Besides, it wasn't right of him to say no when it was her family in danger. And considering Riku was the last person she had left to her, he definitely couldn't say no to that.

"I'm going to go find Axel," Roxas said after a moment of looking at them. He didn't try to deter her either, even offering a confident smile to them before looking at the others in the group. "Maybe everyone here can help you find him. I'll help Axel and the others search for that weird that's wondering around." There was no doubt that he also was missing the taller male's company.

"That's a good idea," Sora said smiling at him in return before looking to the others of his friends, all of which had weird…objects in their hands. "Will you guys help me look for Riku?"

"Sure, we can do that, ya!" Wakka said quickly, the others voicing their agreement as well.

"Alright let's split up and meet up at the castle in an hour," Tidus said quick to take over as leader, or so he tried but everyone was already splitting up into groups to search. "Hey!" They all laughed at the outburst as Tidus ran to join Wakka and Selphie.

"We'll see you in an hour then," Sora said to Roxas and Tidus and the others before he started off, Kairi following behind him. "Let's go find Riku," he said to her giving her his most confident cheeky grin.

"Ok!" The girl said smiling in return moving to follow at his side as Sora started to heading back to the palace. He figured the best place to start would be in the room he last left Riku at. With his attention focused in front of him, he missed the stare of yellow eyes watching his every move.

TBC…

Yay suspense I hope! Took me a moment to figure out how the heck to do this chapter x.x Darn you Zack! And crying Cloud equals awe moment ^^ and I smell popcorn…which I am going to go eat now… Till next time! :D


	44. Princely Garbs 44

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay longer chapter than last time! And alot of stoof happens...alot of stoof x.o

Princely Garbs 44

The hour was almost over. They still hadn't seen sight of Riku anywhere. They'd checked back at the room first with little results before deciding on checking the rest of the palace hoping the others didn't decide to search the palace as well or otherwise they'd just be at a standstill. But even if they had decided on checking it, the palace was so big he doubted everyone would come close to meeting each other. Maybe Riku had gotten lost in this messy labyrinth.

It bothered Sora to not know exactly where Riku hid himself, almost as if Riku completely disappeared. The only option left to them now was to meet up with the others and hope they all had better luck.

Kairi started to lag behind him during their trek through the hallways. She stayed quiet which bothered him because he wasn't used to her being so silent. Figuring she was just worried about her cousin, he left it alone even if it still bothered him. He missed her cheerful conversations even of the two of them would talk about nothing important. This wasn't like Kairi at all, this silent depressed looking girl following him.

Chills went up Sora's spine every so often causing him to look over his shoulder constantly, having to ignore the confused look on Kairi's face each time he did. For a while now he'd been feeling like they were being watched which forced him to keep his guard up. Sometimes he looked back twice when he thought he saw he saw Riku's yellow eyes staring from the shadows. The feelings were playing with his mind, with his heart. He was starting to see things, starting to see vague images of his father and King Ansem following beside them. When he saw them he didn't feel so anxious or scared which were the feelings he got when, strangely enough, he thought Riku hid nearby.

Something brushed his arm lightly and he actually jumped and turned around keyblade in hand.

Kairi jumped startled, the fear reflected in her eyes at the sudden sight of the keyblade. Sora didn't blame her. He'd freaked out if he was walking with a madman waving around some weird looking weapon that took down even Sephiroth.

"You ok? Sora?" She asked softly, lowering the hand that had been the cause of his being alarmed.

"Y-Yea…" Sora sighed and rubbed at his tired eyes. He needed to calm his nerves. He still hadn't fully gained all of his energy back after passing out again. He'd literally been running on empty and had yet to rest properly with so much going on at one time. He offered her a quick smile when he realized she was still watching him. "Everything's going to be ok. Just wait and see."

"I know it will." When he looked at her a bit surprised by her confidence, she just smiled at him, though her cheeks seemed to redden when she did. He felt confused a moment by the look before he felt himself smiling.

She always could make him smile and feel confident that everything would be ok. She was strong in that way, probably stronger than he was. There's a reason why these two were so important to him. When she glanced away he found himself looking at her closer, following the flow of red hair down past her ears on down to her shoulders. She was beautiful, he admitted it. It was even possible that he could have fallen in love with her given the chance. But his heart only beat the way it did when a certain silver haired boy was around. He was in love with Riku…and he could never bring himself to ever want to change that, especially knowing the other boy loved him back.

His eyes rested on her arms seeing that they were still leading back behind her back. She hadn't spoken about it once since he'd met up with her. Sora was curious, and it was killing him not to know what she was hiding.

"Hey, whatcha got back there?" Sora asked leaning over to the side trying to look back behind her.

"Ah…oh…um…" Kairi blushed and he thought she wasn't going to tell him. Then she pulled her hands from behind her back showing him what lay on the palm of her hands. He tilted his head before picking up one of the small seashell necklaces. It was…well it looked amazing.

"Whoa," Sora said softly, eyes almost sparkling. The shells had been smooth over feeling like glass and beads interlaced between the shells along a fine string. The shells themselves varied in different shames and colors, some of which he'd never seen before including an all-black shell. He couldn't do something like this even if he tried. "Where did you get these?" Sora asked looking up at her in awe.

Her cheeks appeared to redden even more. "I made them," she said glancing up at him. "Do you like them?"

"Yeah!" His lips turned up into his cheeky grin as he smiled at her rubbing behind his head. "When did you make them?" He reached up starting to put the necklace on.

"Last night," she said almost too quickly. "We were all thinking about what to get you as a get well present. I couldn't think of anything so I made these." She held them out to him, looking more than a little embarrassed. "They're for you."

"You made them?" Sora stared at her surprised, his cheeks heating up slightly. "For me?" The clasp closing around the hook of the necklace before Sora dropped it where it rested against his neck before he looked down at the other necklace. "Both of them?"

"Uh well…o-one of them is for Riku," she said, the other boy's name bringing a frown to her lips, "If we can find him."

"You mean when we find him," Sora corrected quickly, giving her his most confident smile as he gave her a thumbs up. He wanted to tell her that everything would be ok. She didn't know about Riku's situation and Sora wasn't obligated to scare her any more than she already was. He knew full well the details of the situation which still bothered him even now. Riku's darkness…the fact that it was trying to take over…all of it.

"Sora, did something happen to Riku?" Kairi asked him, actually startling him with the sudden question.

"N-No…nothing that I know of," he lied. He turned his eyes away from her instead looking down at the necklace in his hands. He hated lying. He never did it if he could prevent it.

"Sora…" He felt the arms going around him before he realized it, his cheeks heating up at the close vicinity. He found himself hugging her back, enjoying the small bit of warmth his friend gave him.

"I'm glad…" she said suddenly confusing Sora with the words. He tried to pull back to look at her but her grip was strong, stronger than it should have been keeping him in place.

"K-Kairi?"

"I'm glad…he's missing," the voice changed sounding deeper, way deeper than it should have for a girl. Sora tried harder to pull back but he couldn't shake her lose. He could even feel the nails gripping into the back of his shirt. "I'm glad I'll get to have you for myself."

The seashell necklace around his neck started to get hot. It hurt burning against the skin of his neck. He felt the light of the crown necklace trying to protect him as it flashed brightly, but it couldn't. Darkness crawled at the corners of his vision, slowly stealing his sight. His body went taunt try to fight back against the pain eating away at his heart, his hand around the necklace unable to pull it free. It felt as if a poison had managed to get into his body and now it was spreading to take over everything. Then the darkness came.

Sora was trapped, or so he thought before the darkness shattered around him. He could see again…even if things didn't appear as they should have. He looked up seeing a vague shadow that resembled the ghost he'd seen in his dreams. Except the person he was seeing was Kairi herself. He could see another form approaching her, one that he was all too familiar with as he swallowed.

Riku…

Riku was walking towards them…no…towards Kairi and…wait wasn't that his body on the floor beside her? What was happening? What was going on? Why wasn't he inside of his body? Was he…did he…?

"Seems like you're trapped here," a voice said startling him. He turned quickly finding his body able to move and tried to summon his keyblade to no avail. The keyblade, his light, wouldn't respond to him. That confused him…but not so much as the sight of the two people standing in front of him.

The figures weren't like they had been in his dreams or even from moments earlier when he was walking the halls with Kairi. In fact they looked pretty alive with clear readable eyes and solid colorful forms. Not to mention looking very familiar to him, enough that he actually found himself taking step back from them.

"D-Da…" Sora swallowed before he continued on, feeling like his eyes were going to fall out of their sockets. "K-King Tsunami? K-King A-Auron?" This couldn't be real! Not unless…no way…was he dead?

"I prefer the dad part," Tsunami said though the smile stayed firmly on his lips. Sora licked his lips nervously before he looked up seeing Riku pulling out the keyblade, similar to the one he'd seen at Hallow Bastion though not as dark as he started to run towards someone, another dark figure. His yellow eyes looked fierce in the darkness that had invaded the room.

"Riku!"

"He can't hear you from here," King Ansem said speaking his first toward since showing up.

Tsunami walked over to him, looking down at him sadly as he reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Son…welcome to the other side."

* * *

Riku frowned as he ran through the palace halls. His head hurt…had been hurting since Sora left to talk to King Mickey. He'd caught people giving him funny looks though he couldn't truly explain it himself. Sometimes he found himself blacking out for a few seconds leaving him wondering if he'd come close to passing out. He'd never experienced the feelings like these, this pain in his head.

The weird thing about the pulsing headaches was the feeling that something was calling to him. Not really with words but…well it was strange. That's all he could think of to describe it. It was like a sound or maybe an invisible leash that was tugging him in one direction. He didn't like it even though it pulled at him urgently.

All afternoon he found himself following the invisible leash because there was no way for him to ignore it. He'd been inside and out and even down into the basement of the palace still the escalating pain had suddenly stopped about ten minutes ago. He'd stayed where he was then, exhausted from the constant throbbing in his head that made him feel like he needed to hurl more than once. He'd come close to passing out several times during and after the headaches. And for a moment he thought he was done with them.

But just moments ago the headaches had returned, full force now. This was how he found himself running through the halls again, bumping into newly established servants and guests and heading to an unexplored part of the palace he'd never been too. He was getting closer now to the source of the headaches. He could tell because the pains were getting worse.

He paused in the hallway long enough to look at the room to his right before dashing inside quickly. Instantly, as if he'd just broken through a plate of glass, the pain shattered. The tingling he felt in his head behind his twitching eyes slowly faded until he didn't feel anything. The room was dark…which was strange considering that the rooms of the palace held no darkness due to being illuminated by the power of light flowing throughout the whole kingdom.

"R-Riku?"

He knew the voice. All hesitation dropped as he used his light in the darkness coming to a standstill when he saw Kairi on the ground holding what appeared to be an unmoving Sora. He could only swear his blood ran cold in that moment before he quickly started to make his way over towards them. What were they even doing on this vacant side of the palace?

Kairi was crying, holding Sora to her, the tears dripping down on Sora's cheeks. She looked confused and of course very upset. Riku let the light recede, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness before he kneeled down beside them staring at Sora's peaceful face.

"Kairi…what happened?" Riku asked unable to help himself as he reached out and grabbed Sora's hand pressing his thumb against a covered vein on his wrist. The strong, steady pulsing of flowing blood to the heart made him calm down instantly. Sora was still alive and well…but he still hadn't figured out why he wasn't awake.

"I-I don't know," Kairi said sniffling as she rubbed at her eyes. "I…I can't remember." She frowned looking genuinely confused. The loss of memory sounded suspiciously like what he was experiencing. Was she getting the same feelings then? Maybe it was because she was his blood relative that this appeared to only be happening to the two of them. Then again, seeing as he hadn't met with the others yet he couldn't be sure they were the only ones getting like this.

"We'll figure it out later," Riku said, glancing over her quickly too to make sure she hadn't been hurt as well. "We need to get Sora checked out just in case something's happening to him." He reached out to pick Sora up but paused seeing the seashell necklace around Sora's neck. "What is that?" Somehow it seemed…out of place. He couldn't figure out why though, why for a moment it made his defensive alarm go up.

"Oh," Kairi looked up at him, her cheeks reddening even though she appeared to be still feeling upset. "I made these for you guys. I thought it might make you both feel better." And she held out the other complimenting necklace to Riku. "This one's yours."

Riku smiled at her seeing the little gift, the warning bells slowly dissipating. Why would he need to be defensive around Kairi? She couldn't harm a butterfly if she wanted to. "That looks really amazing, Kairi," he said reaching out to grab it. "Thanks for thinking of us."

"You're welcome," Kairi said smiling as she tilted her head closing her eyes happily. She appeared to be happy anyway, though deep down Riku felt there was more to it. Then he heard the little words from her lips that froze his every moment. "Riku…I'm sorry…"

Riku frowned before slowly pulling his hand back from the suddenly offending object. "….Who are you?" he asked.

"Hm?" Kairi's eyes opened as she tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean, Riku?"

"You're not Kairi," he said glaring at the girl. "Who are you?"

Kairi closed her eyes again but this time then they opened Riku felt himself recoil as glowing yellow eyes stared at him

"What's the matter, boy?" a voice definitely not belonging to Kairi said from the young girl's lips. "Don't you like the gift I made you?"

"This is your last chance to answer me! Now who are you?"

"What do you mean?" Kairi said twisting the necklace between her fingers and standing to her feet looking down on him. "I'm Kairi." The voice had changed back to Kairi's softer voice when the name was said, the sound like a trigger that set Riku's head blazing with pain. "I'm your cousin."

"K…Kairi…" Riku squinted to look through one open eye looking through the painfully blurred vision seeing the sweet girl's face. "What…what did you do to Sora and Kairi?"

"Oh she's here," the deep voice said again smirking at Riku. "Would you like to speak to her? Riku?" The voice was light again. It only made things even more confusing to him already shaken brain. "Riku, what's going on? I can't…." She reached up holding her head looking at him in confusion. "I can't think straight."

"Kairi…." He started to reach out to her but the look on her face changed as she started to laugh.

"This girl is an easy target, easily…susceptible to the darkness." She kneeled down reaching out and grabbing the front of Sora's shirt pulling him to sit up. "Her desires for something she couldn't have were her downfall to darkness." She brushed her fingers against Sora's lips before standing holding Sora up by the shirt as she looked at Riku, the yellow catlike eyes staring at him. "And because of this, I can gain one of the things I desire."

"What are you after?" Sensing that Sora was in danger, Riku clenched his hand before looking down seeing a keyblade clenched in his hand. It was the same one he'd summoned when he helped Sora to defeat Sephiroth except now, the power of light was interlacing with the dormant darkness. He glanced down at it in surprise but only for a moment before he focused his attention on Kairi's form again holding his keyblade ready. "What are you trying to obtain by hurting my friends?"

The possessed girl didn't answer at first. She used the hand holding the necklace pressing it against Sora's chest. The shells of the two necklaces started to rattle against each other at the necklaces vibrated. Wind seemed to blow from nowhere all at once, blowing the girl and her hostage's hair wildly. Her eyes closed they went wide as she suddenly crumbled to a heap on the floor on top of the comatose Sora.

"Kairi! Sora!" He started to run over to them, pushing past his head pains. A wall of darkness shot up between them which Riku didn't hesitate to swing his keyblade at slashing his way through. The figure started to stand again making Riku slow to a stop. No…it wasn't Kairi's body that stood this time.

Sora's body stood up turning around to look at him. His eyes looked sleepy, body swaying as it did its best to gather its balance. Then the lips turned up into that very unwelcoming smirk as Sora looked down at himself, the glow of eyes surveying the young form.

"Yes this will do…for now," the deep voice said looking at Riku again and gaining satisfaction from the distraught look on his face. "What's the matter, boy? I thought you enjoyed looking at this form." Riku felt his eyes turn away, turn from the yellow eyes so unlike Sora's own. Whoever this…puppet master was, he was a sick man to do this to the people he loved.

He clenched his eyes shut rubbing at his head. It still hurt. The pain still hadn't gone away.

"Riku? Are you ok? Does your head hurt?" Riku looked up quickly hearing Sora's voice, his eyes searching the suddenly blue ones. When had Sora gotten this close to him, standing right in front of him looking up at him, looking just like the boy he was so accustomed to being near.

"Sora?"

"Here, take my hand," Sora said, sounding his usual cheeky self as he reached out holding out his hand to Riku. He sounded so much like him, so much like the boy he'd loved for so long, the boy he wanted to hold to him forever and never let go that he actually thought the few moments that passed by had only been a dream. It didn't help that it was hard to think around the pounding in his head. But looking up at the boy it felt like the pain was slowly trying to ease away. "Let me help you."

Then he happened to look back behind Sora at Kairi lying there on the floor and his resolve hardened. He slapped the hand back glaring up at the figure.

"Stop playing around! Give them back! Give back Sora and Kairi!"

"Riku…" A look of shock and sadness passed over Sora's face before the grin surfaced again. "Heh…you're a stubborn one, boy." Sora's body kicked him in the chest hard enough that he fell back clutching at it, his keyblade sliding across the floor from his hand. "But you're a fool as well," the lips said with a sadistic leer as the eyes looked him over. "But that's why I want that body of yours, that body that I will make submit to me one way or another. That body that can control both darkness and light." The foot came down hard again, hard enough that Riku could hear bone snapping as he coughed up blood unable to take in the breath to scream out in agony.

He turned his head to the side reaching out towards the keyblade feebly trying to call it to him. In his mind he tried to think past the affliction. It gave him little opportunity, a sharp ache shooting through his veins as if to admonish him for trying to do something he wasn't allowed to do. The only thought he could muster up in his brain was that he needed to protect them, all else be damned.

The keyblade flew across the room to his hand, and he gripped it tightly, confidently as he flipped it using the flat side to swing at Sora. His swing hit nothing but at least the weight on his body was gone as he rolled over to his side. His stomach twisted as he hurled what had to be breakfast and probably even last night's dinner. It hurt but he couldn't stop it from happening, blood starting to drip from the corner of his mouth.

He felt dizzy though he wasn't sure anymore if it was from the headaches or the pain in his chest. Blood continued to drip from his lips but he wiped at it with the back of a hand using the keyblade to push himself up. He fought of the pain to getting up, even giving a sarcastic chuckle as he managed to more or less stand up without passing out.

"Riku, you don't look so well," the voice said in Sora's delightful voice even as the heartless smirk stayed on the lips. There was no warmth to the words at all. "Maybe you should lay down for a bit." Sora held out his hand, the keyblade appearing in all its glory. If he could grin any bigger, his face would split in half. "Maybe you should lie down forever." Sora swung the blade, and crescent blades of light shot out out flying towards Riku. The older male couldn't move, only able to hold himself up by bracing himself on the keyblade. There was no way he would be able to dodge the attack. Even if he did manage it, he was screwed regardless. The person controlling Sora's body was holding the keyblade and ready to strike should the attack fail. This was all a game to him. And the way things were headed this would quickly end in a game over with no second chances.

With the limited options left to him…he was screwed.

TBC…

One of those, "it coulda went many ways so I kept deleting and changing things until I settled on a path," chapters. x.x I had expected this to be an easy chapter but it turned into just the opposite. Oh…and yay dead dudes! ^^


	45. Princely Garbs 45

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: I kept restarting and deleting and editing and like on the final day just rewrote the whole thing. -_- And granted I like how this came out, I really need to get my butt to bed now. x.x Yay work first thing in the morning.

* * *

Princely Garbs 45

Roxas frowned. He'd been chasing after Riku as soon as he found him but now…now he didn't see him anywhere. He looked around, lost in the darkness invading this part of the palace that he knew should not have been so murky. His fears played with his mind giving him a list of worst scenarios he wanted more than anything to forget. What if Riku had changed now and the darkness had taken over? Were they too late to save him?

He told himself everything was ok, that it was all in his head. But this darkness…the ominous feel it gave him which only grew stronger as he kept walking…something had to have happened. Could it been because of the mysterious being that everyone was chasing after, or was it because his fears had come true and Riku wasn't himself anymore?

The answer came to him quicker than he expected when he came to the room where his skin wanted to crawl away into hiding. Standing in the doorway, he saw Sora facing Riku, keyblade out as he prepared to attack. Riku stood facing him, holding a keyblade, of all things, covered in the power of light and dark. He saw Riku leaning heavily on it for support only assuming that the other was injured for some unknown reason. Then he saw Sora throwing out arches of light from the keyblade and assumed everything to be ok.

There was no way Sora's light could hurt his friends, especially someone he cared so much for like Riku. The most it could do was push the darkness away as it had always done in the past.

Roxas saw Riku's body go taunt as the two arches flew at him, through him, seemingly paralyzing the boy in place. He heard only a small yell of pain before the boy went quiet. It'd been a strange moment, but still Roxas didn't think anything of it.

Sora walked towards the older boy, moving smoothly, more gracefully than Roxas was familiar with. Sora was usually the clumsy, peppy type when he walked. Though he wasn't the type to stumble and fall over everything in his path, graceful was undeniably not his middle name. He saw his twin brother carrying what looked like a sea shell necklace in his hand. Another lay against his chest, jittering with each step he took.

That was when Roxas felt his body tense with alertness. Something was off with those necklaces and he found himself glancing down at his wrist, at the black and white bracelet he wore that, now at least, didn't hold any threat towards him. In the past it'd been used to regulate the flow of darkness inside of him. It was because he was a son of Kingdom Hearts, a family that held only light in their hearts. He'd been young when he'd first received it and, not knowing of the amount of light inside of him, had succumbed to it. Now, with its use, he could harness the flow of darkness, at least to a certain extent. It was similar to Riku's own use of the darkness except a lot less powerful.

And now it was singing in response to the necklaces. These necklaces were similar to his bracelet. If that was the case then Sora….

He tried to move, tried to run as fast as he could to reach Sora, to reach Riku, to stop what he knew would happen. "Sora!"

Sora looked up at his voice…but he didn't seem surprised to see him. In fact, he grinned as he reached out resting his palm against Riku's chest, the same hand holding the necklace. The lips moved. Though the sudden howling of wind blocked out words, Roxas stared at the lips, hearing them clearly despite the wind.

"I won."

Riku's head fell back, darkness and light flowing from every open pore as it swirled around him. His body was tight, fighting against the light that was cascading around his young twin's body. Then amidst the light, darkness came, a dark being that stared at Roxas with the purely evilest smirk a being could muster. The yellow eyes stared at him as the creature, no this man floated completely invading the shape of Riku's body forcing his way in.

Sora's body collapsed on the floor, the keyblade shattering to pieces when it couldn't keep its form anymore. Whether he was dead or not, Roxas couldn't tell from here. He couldn't even reach him for the wind pushing him back. He pulled free his keyblade, slicing at the darkness and light in front of him, fighting to make his way to the fallen boy. He felt like the walls around them, the walls of the tiny room, were falling apart even though the most they did was quake a little from the flow of power. He felt sick being around so much darkness, so much power he'd never felt even when fighting Sephiroth near the Door to Darkness.

It all vanished, all of it. The whole thing just vanished, being sucked back into Riku's body. Somehow, the room and the hallway outside seemed light again, as if the darkness that covered the place hadn't been there. It made his nerves quake with the need to know what had happened. He swallowed looking down seeing that his arms were shaking, his body was sweating. He was scared…but he wasn't really sure what he was scared of.

Then Riku moved. It was only a slight shift in his body, the closing of his mouth, the flickering of his eyes, but it put Roxas on edge. The young twin planted his feet on the ground, pulling fourth his second keyblade and gripping the two weapons tightly. He needed to get to Sora and to Kairi, but he was afraid to move.

His eyes stayed on Riku, watching as the boy slowly pushed up to stand on his feet. He watched the boy's once blue eyes turn to look at him. They glowed with a brighter yellow than he'd ever remembered seeing on his face. The boy looked down then at his body, then looked at his hands and turned them over as if in awe of what he was seeing.

And then he laughed. He laughed with such a sinister, dark sound that it felt like the air around Roxas was being ripped, shredded to pieces. And then he smirked. If he thought it'd looked bad on Sora's lips, it looked far worse on Riku's…no…this man's face.

They'd been wrong, wrong to think Riku could lose control of his darkness. No, he'd had perfect control over it, far more than any one of them. It was the fact that this…this man had force himself to take control of it. This man was who they should have been protecting Riku from. Instead of trying to corner Riku, force his hand and hide their suspicions and plans of destroying his darkness, they should have been trying to protect him, to protect his darkness and his light. They should have trusted him more.

But it was too late now, not when they had _this_ standing in front of them.

"Boy, you look act as if you've seen a ghost," the voice said, that man's voice said. "Or…maybe you've just seen a monster." This thing was amused, despite that Roxas felt anything but.

"Wh…" Roxas swallowed and had to lick his drying lips to continue. "Who…are you?" His voice sounded too little to him, so weak. Too weak. He was too weak to fight something like this, even if he wasn't alone he couldn't fight this.

"My name…?" The man laughed again in Riku's body. He didn't even move his body when the portal appeared behind him. "You may call me Xehanort…the man who will bring about the end of the world." He left the words there, didn't even care that he turned his back on Roxas. He had no fears of a boy who couldn't even fight him.

Roxas cursed himself, saw the man walking away into the portal as if all that had happened had been nothing more than a dream. "Stop!" That was the only words Roxas could bring himself to say. And the man kept on walking, vanishing into the portal that closed behind him.

Roxas dropped to his knees, staring up at the sky then over towards Sora and Kairi. He let the keyblade drop to the ground, the bracelet vibrating and warm against his wrist before he held it. The second wave of darkness was coming.

* * *

"AH!" Sora jumped up quickly, panting and looking around. He expected…no more like hoped to see Riku there watching over him, but the boy wasn't anywhere in sight which saddened him. But then seeing the shadowy room around him confused him too. Not only that, when he turned his head to the side he saw what looked like his body lying next to him, though covered completely in shadows.

And then he looked up to see his father sitting in the chair nearby, staring at him with wide eyes of confusion and shock. "You ok, Sora?"

"Uh…yeah," Sora said slowly, frowning as he stared up at him. So he was still dead then. Wait…did ghost pass out?

"You…blacked out for a moment," Tsunami said to him, reaching down to gently ruffle his hair back which only bounced right back in place. "We got worried that you were going to be taken to the other side."

"To the other side?" Sora asked tilting his head curiously. He honestly hadn't had a chance to really ask what had happened to him.

"The place you go when you do finally…die." Tsunami frowned and shook his head quickly. He looked like he had some of his own ghost haunting him. Not that Sora couldn't sympathize…he was talking to his dead dad right?

"Then…we're not dead?" Sora asked him, looking up from his lap just now registering what he said. If they weren't dead then what were they?

"No…well at least not in retrospect." Tsunami looked up at the door watching Ansem coming inside through the closed door before he stood up from the stool he'd been sitting in. Sora must have done a double take because Ansem actually paused before he continued walking over to them. "We're something akin to ghost, except our bodies are still alive."

"Still…alive?" Now Sora really was confused. He tried to think back to what happened, to why he blacked out and he frowned. He didn't remember much past seeing the shadowy male going into his body and animating it. He assumed he must have passed out around that time, and from the location that he was in now, the bedroom, that must have been true. That meant someone must have carried him there. Roxas maybe? Or maybe Riku?

He couldn't help looking over at his body, lying there on the bed. Since he couldn't really see any of the facial features he couldn't tell if he was even breathing or not. The door opened to the room and he looked up seeing a figure come inside. By the way the hair was shooting, it had to be Roxas. He appeared to be alone, which was a shock to him as he walked over to where Sora's body lay, standing and looking down at him. The lips moved but Sora couldn't hear the words. It was like there was a wall between them.

"For us, the bodies are still alive. They're in a kind of…holding spot right now," Ansem spoke glancing at Roxas too before looking at Sora again. "But when the body dies, the soul associated with it dies as well and will disappear from here."

"For some reason this kingdom has becoming a holding spot for the lost spirits," Tsunami said before he sighed rubbing at his eyes looking like a sleepy child. "We've lost a few already. It's only a matter of time before we're all dead for good."

Sora nodded. It didn't really make any sense to him but he got the general idea anyway. "What about Kairi?" When he'd looked around the room he hadn't seen her shadow form anywhere. He hoped she was just in another room resting and not part of the officially dead.

"She should be safe. Her body wasn't close to death nor was the darkness in her long enough to kill her." Well that was good. He felt like he breathed easier knowing that fact. Now if only he could wake himself up. He wanted to thank her for the necklaces. The necklaces…right….

"The uh…thing that was um…that took over my body after it took over Kairi's," Sora frowned looking at them. It was really hard to describe something when he wasn't really sure what it was himself. "What was that?"

Ansem glanced at Tsunami who glanced back at him in return. Both males frowned and shook their heads before looking at Sora again. Ok…what had that been about?

"Xehanort," Tsunami said finally when Ansem stayed quiet too long. "He's…a special case. He's capable of taking over bodies that have darkness inside them." Instantly, alarm bells shot off in Sora's head as he sat up quickly. There was one person he could think of that had so much darkness in him, he'd be the easiest target. It made sense now why it kept looking like something was trying to take over his best friend's body. "Riku!"

"It's too late," Ansem said as if reading Sora's mind. "He's already been taken over."

"Then I need to bring him back!" Sora said confidently. He wouldn't abandon Riku now. He'd never ever abandon him! Riku needed his help, needed to return to himself.

"You do," Tsunami said grinning. "That's why we're going to get you back into your body."

Sora blinked. "How?"

"Well, you're my son aren't you?" Tsunami said still grinning. Well of course he was his son. He had little to use against that fact. They looked the same and even acted the same in some cases. "We'll use the light!"

"Your body's still here, in the safety of the palace which is good compared to where the rest of us are stored," Ansem said looking over at the unmoving form on the bed. "No doubt Xehanort didn't take it or destroy it because he felt like it wasn't a threat to him now."

"But we're going to show him the light is strong!" Tsunami said loudly, sounding far too excited for being a king and a father. He'd barely given Ansem a chance to finish before he blurted out his words. "It might take a couple of nights but once you've gained enough light inside of you, you'll be able to return to your body in no time!"

"Alright!" Sora was driven up now, pumping his fist as he stared up at Tsunami. "Just tell me what I need to do!"

"Think with your heart," Tsunami said reaching down and tapping his fingers to Sora's chest. "And protect yourself, your friends, and the innocent lives that depend on you. That's all it takes."

"Think with my heart…." Sora said repeating Tsunami's words. It was hard for him to call him dad. He'd lived without him for how many years? He didn't even know he still had a dad and for him to suddenly appear now…he wondered what Roxas would think if he knew he was still alive…well kind of alive.

"Come!" Tsunami headed to the door, expecting the other two of them to follow. "I want to show you something!"

"Show me something?" Sora wiggled his nose anxiously before he started after him. "What do you want to show me?"

Tsunami grinned at him, eyes holding a sense of mischief. "You'll see when you get there. It's something that will help you control the light better." And then he was gone, escaping out of the room leaving at least one of the two left behind to ponder over what he was plotting before they both followed after him.

TBC…

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Yay! It's been updated! Took me ten billion years and like everyone's probably sleeping now. x.x But it's done. And yes Xehanort is now in this story even if I haven't finished all of Birth by Sleep...despite the fact I do love that game. x.x


	46. Princely Garbs 46

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Because yes...and I hate summer time. Too hot x.x that or I should really just invest in getting some shorts...

* * *

Princely Garbs 46

"How is he?" Axel asked causing Roxas to turn and look at him as he came into the room.

"Still the same," he said sounding very dejected despite the lacking facial expression. "It's been over two days now and there still hasn't been any reactions."

"But still alive, right?" Axel frowned when Roxas just barely nodded, staring blankly down at Sora. He'd been very detached emotionally ever since Zexion had found him crouched down staring towards the two fallen figures.

They hadn't removed the necklaces from Sora's body yet, worried about there being a backlash from the unpredictable objects. As of yet no one knew Riku's whereabouts. Everyone was down in spirits because one young prince was missing while another lay unconscious in front of them. There was no explanation for it, at least none that they would give to the people exhaustion and that they were doing their best to find the missing Riku. As far as they know, Riku had disappeared. They didn't know about the darkness. They didn't need to know.

"Axel…" Roxas said his name in a desperation Axel was not used to. It plunged straight into the heart Axel was still learning to use. He wanted to hold him close and tell him everything would be alright. He just didn't know how to do that.

"Axel…" Roxas said his name again, lower this time, and he realized Roxas was waiting for him to respond. Axel could have easily just said "yes" or "go ahead, I'm listening," but instead he just rested a hand on Roxas's shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I need to get stronger," Roxas said softly before looking over his shoulder at Axel, resting his hand over the older man's. "I can't protect anyone like this."

"Like what?" Axel asked with genuine curiosity. He really wanted to know. He wanted to be able to understand what was making Roxas feel this way.

"Like this like…like this!" Roxas repeated gesturing to himself and looking at Axel as if that would explain everything. It didn't. Axel was still confused.

Roxas swallowed and seemed to calm himself down before he tried it again. "I've…never felt so useless in my life. I couldn't do anything! All I could do was stand there and watch it all happen!"

"Mmm..." Axel nodded his head in understanding. "It could have happened to anyone."

"But it didn't," Roxas said. Axel's heart clenched at the closed off expression he got in return. "Axel…I've never felt anything like it before. The amount of power, of darkness that…that thing…Xehanort produced. It shouldn't have been possible but it happened! How is someone able to tap into so much power without…?" Roxas perked up suddenly.

"Hm?" Axel blinked then actually lifted a brow up. "What's wrong?"

"Yesterday…the way the darkness came flooding out of Riku's body…it seemed unnatural…forced…forced by that Xehanort guy." Roxas reached down grabbing hold of the necklace held in Sora's hand. Axel opened his mouth to stop him when…nothing happened. There wasn't any reaction to the touch and Axel frowned at that. At least it seemed safe to hold. "This…"

"This…?" Axel urged him to continue. Roxas's eyes were sparkling with the knowledge of something Axel really wanted to know. What had he figured out?

"This…Kairi made it."

"Yeah…she did, didn't she?" Axel blinked. "What about it?" He knew this part…probably by now everyone knew that the girl had made it for her best friend and cousin after talking to her. It didn't stop her from being pretty worked up at the revelation that her creations had been used for the problem they were facing now. She'd been pretty quiet since then and looked more than a little depressed. It wasn't anything he or Roxas could do to help. With both Sora and Riku out of commission they only ones they could rely on to help Kairi get past this were her close friends.

"He said he invades those plague by darkness." Roxas turned his body so he was facing Axel. The look on his face was of a person working their brain hard to solve a puzzle. "Sora…at the time had these in his possession…but there's no way he has darkness in his heart." Yeah, because from what they'd learned the royal family couldn't physically old the darkness in them. It explained why Riku's own darkness had changed to light when it entered Sora. "When he pressed one of them to Riku's chest that was when the darkness spun out of control."

"So the darkness-"

"No, the shells, the necklaces!" Roxas interrupted. "They're…argh!" He scratched at his head with both hands looking like a raving mad man…even though Axel found the action to be cute. "That…thing… that Xehanort guy…. He used the necklace to get into Riku. So he must have used it to get into Sora from Kairi. So then Kairi…" He frowned. Axel could understand why. Something must have upset Kairi beforehand to make darkness grow inside her. And considering she was one of Sora's closest friends, she must have been targeted in particularly. For how long? "Kairi…" Now Roxas was frowning. "He must have been following her for a long time and waiting for a time to take over…but then shouldn't we have noticed that?"

"Maybe he just plotted a seed there, something that would grow over time and it just so happened that now was the time. He just wanted to manipulate her to get around to getting to Riku." Axel took the necklace away from the short male, holding it up to the light as if he'd see the problem right in front of him.

"Yes but why target Sora?" Roxas asked, rubbing at his chin. "Why not go straight to the source and go to Riku?"

Axel blinked and thought about it. That did make more sense. Why go through all the trouble of taking over Sora if he could just go inside of Riku directly…unless…. "Maybe because Riku's less guarded around Sora? Or maybe Riku's darkness is hard to control?"

"Both sound like pretty good answers," Roxas sighed before pushing up to his feet stretching. "Kairi's not able to fight using the light or the darkness. But Sora on the other hand…if Xehanort couldn't get in using the necklaces, this way he could force himself in using Sora's familiar looks, his voice, and his powers to throw Riku off guard."

"That is true…." He knew he'd never able to attack Roxas if something like this ever happened to him.

"So essentially, he doesn't have to put up much of a fight to get inside of Riku." Roxas shook his head then. "It seems like he can't be without a host body…so where did he hide before all of this?"

"I wouldn't worry about that too much," Axel said. "We should focus on the present. For instance…" and he took the other necklace from around Sora's neck holding it in his hand. "Let's ask Vexen and Lexaeus if they can take a look at these necklaces. If they were used for the transfer in any way, maybe we can that to our advantage for saving Riku."

"Axel, you're a genius!" Roxas said quickly, beaming up at him. "I knew I picked you for a reason."

"Heh," Axel scratched his finger against a cheek, not admitting that he felt a little embarrassed but extremely happy at the praise.

"Alright, let's head out to find them." Axel only took a moment to grab Roxas's hand before pulling him from the room.

* * *

"More light. You'll need to pull in more light if you expect to defeat the darkness."

"I'm…trying." Sora was hovering off the ground but just barely. He tried and couldn't imagine how this had worked so easily before when he'd defeated Sephiroth. Then again he hadn't really been himself at the time.

He'd been out here working on light summon for…he wasn't even sure how long? A day? Two days? The concept of time here was just too weird for him to figure it out. All he could say is it was a long time. But he didn't feel tired or hungry. He didn't feel pain not that he had a reason to at the moment. Maybe it was because he was dead but not dead or whatever he was. A walking spirit?

"Remember, you need to feel the light," Tsunami said hovering way higher than Sora would have thought to believe. Even though they were essentially spirits, they stayed pretty grounded to the floor; hence why he and Ansem walked instead of gliding like Tsunami seemed to enjoy doing. It took Sora a minute to get used to the idea that they could walk through doors and walls which made it an easy trip to the room they were in now.

The room lay hidden beneath where the Door to Light was. It made sense why they missed discovering this room before when he and his brother had been here what felt like years ago considering the difficulty of even finding the entrance or the locks to open it. Getting into the room had been easy since they could bypass the mechanism needed to get inside. But it seemed to only permit entry to the royal family since, even as a spirit, Ansem still couldn't get inside.

Ansem had decided to check on other things, such as seeing if there had been any progress in the search going on for Riku. Sora wondered if he'd even able to understand what the others were saying since all Sora heard was silence and dark shadow. Apparently, lip reading was a good tactic to being able to 'hear' about the world.

During this time, Sora was learning how to better hone his control over the light. He wished he'd learned about this room before. Maybe he could have protected Riku better with more power and control.

"Concentrate," Tsunami…no, his father said as Sora's light started to dim. Sora focused again, pulling in the surrounding light. Being so close to the Door gave him a warm feeling even though it was a whole floor away. It was easy to gather the light in being this close, but being able to shape it to his needs was harder than he'd expected. He didn't even know he could do that.

"Just like how the darkness can be manipulated and used for anything, the light can as well," his dad continued, smiling at him as he held out his hand calling forth a keyblade similar in looks to Sora's. Sora blinked looking up at him then pulled out his own keyblade looking down at it. Despite the fact that it was a weapon, it still looked like your typical key. But that made sense considering that it was used to unlock doors. The Door to Light, the Door to Darkness, even the door to Magic Kingdom. How many doors existed in this world? How many of them led to other worlds? Was Riku at one of those doors now?

"Your necklace helps to enhance the power of light, while your keyblade helps to assist you in its use." Slowly, Tsunami floated down landing lightly on his feet. He didn't have the necklace like both Sora and Roxas did. The crown shaped metal that was the symbol of their kingdom. Sora frowned looking down at his necklace and getting a small gleam in return. He didn't know his necklace could do that, but it explained why it always lit up when he used his power.

Tsunami's keyblade flashed brightly for a moment before Sora was able to take notice of the change in design. It looked different…completely different. It reminded him of the two keyblades Roxas had, one of them had looked completely different from the typical blade. The one his father owned now looked large and powerful and surprisingly long, with its array of red and black and big bulky style.

"This particular type here would make you much stronger in terms of strength." He held the keyblade out to Sora and when the young prince gripped ahold of it he felt all of his weight being pulled down by the heaviness of the blade. How had his father held onto it! "It'd be a disadvantage not being able to hold it," Tsunami said grinning cheekily.

"Will I have to learn how to master this?" Sora asked pulling his hardest to try and pick up the keyblade. It didn't budge an inch.

"Well not right at this moment but it helps to start training on it now. The keyblade does have other uses as well besides just being heavy." He changed the blade again with just a tap and suddenly Sora felt himself being pulled up into the air as the blade started to float straight upwards.

"Whoa!"

"Your blade can help you in terms of speed, strength, agility, and even with being light on your feet."

"Yeah," Sora yelled down looking down at his rapidly shrinking father before looking up at the keyblade as it seemed to pick up speed heading to the ceiling. "But this is useless if I can't use it!"

"That's why you have to train your body, your mind, and your heart." Tsunami snapped a finger and just like that, the keyblade disappeared. Sora was suspended up in the air, but when he saw the keyblade disappear panic kicked in before he yelled making a fast decent back towards the ground.

His fall was cushioned by a pair of arms when his father caught him midway in the air. When he looked up he saw the white wings flapping behind him and glowing brightly with light. He was in awe, staring at his dad in a new light, realizing now that he was strong, way stronger than he and Roxas put together.

"Wow…."

"Hm?" Tsunami blinked down at him as they descended to the ground. "What is it?"

"You're really strong," Sora said grinning up at him. Tsunami smiled and for a moment looked embarrassed for the compliment. He cleared his throat, resting his hands behind his head in a Sora like fashion before he grinned in return. "Ready to continue?"

"Yeah!" Sora said quickly, enthusiastically. "If I'm gonna save Riku, I gotta get stronger as quick as I can."

"Good." Tsunami looked pleased with the response as he reached down ruffling his son's hair. "Let's get started with control practice then."

And like he did when he'd been training under Leon and Cloud, he went to attention and set his face in firm attention, giving his father a quick salute. "Yes, sir!"

* * *

TBC…

And that as they say is that…now where did I hear this line from again? X.x Anyways, yay, training! And stuff! And I'm sleepy so I may be just saying random crap :D


	47. Princely Garbs 47

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Because yes...and I hate summer time. Too hot x.x that or I should really just invest in getting some shorts...Oh and working on chapter 48 as we speak...I mean not that we're really speaking...eh...yeah you know what I mean. :D

* * *

Princely Garbs 47

"Whoa, I'm seeing some weird stuff up here, man," Xigbar said. He'd made a portal, granted it was made from the light and not the darkness, not nearly as strong as what he was used to. All of them found they were able to use their abilities still, though now instead of feeding off the darkness they fed off the light.

"What do you see up there?" Luxord was with him this time, arms folded as he stared up at the other ex-Organization member hovering high up in the air through his own made portal. They were dressed down, casually now as it seemed to help them to fit in better among the people. They weren't the Organization anymore, it was time they stopped dressing the part of it. Granted for those that had ventured out of their holding and into Radiant Garden during the attack, particularly Marluxia, Larxene, and Demyx, he couldn't help feeling sorry that they were known and thus outcast from the people of the city.

"I'm seeing a large black….cloud or something heading this way from the north." He seemed to grunt, but it was hard to tell being he was too high up for Luxord to see his face clearly. "It's taking up a large part of the northern horizon. Probably it'll be here within a week if we wait on it."

"Any ideas on what's causing these clouds?"

"Nah, man." Xigbar looked down at him and frowned like he was an idiot. "Dude, I'm not even sure if it's really a cloud. It seems too organized for that."

"Let's go tell the others about it," Luxord said and waited until Xigbar came back down before heading for the stairs. "It's probably the clue we need. If we conclude that it's the darkness moving towards us, then we can assume that THAT would be where the prince was taken."

"Dude…that's a lot of darkness. We're not gonna be able to stop that crap on our own." Xigbar tilted his head to the side stretching the muscles in his neck as he looked back through his one good eye towards the mass of darkness.

"That's why we're going to talk to the others," Luxord responded, only giving him a quick glance before ducking inside to the relief of the cooler interior. "We need to think…to strategize and come up with a plan and figure out what to do, next. Standing around here and twiddling our thumbs isn't doing us any good."

"Right right, I got ya." He didn't sound like he got the point, but Luxord was already ignoring him in favor of thinking about other things. A plan? Like that was going to work in this case. They needed power, lots of power. Enough power to defend against what was likely to be a very harsh battle.

"Let's speak to King Mickey first and figuring out things from there." The one eyed male yawned in response, but he didn't put up a complaint as he followed after the blond heading to what was consider the king's temporary resting quarters.

* * *

Roxas wasn't sure what to feel about this whole situation he was in now. He shook his head as he kept following after the man, the man that claimed to be his uncle. He really didn't discredit it to be a truth, but he couldn't help being at least a little big suspicious. He'd never seen the man before, had literally only learned the man even existed when Auron had mentioned it while talking about his past.

It was hard to deny that he wasn't their uncle, not when he had the pointy hair and large cheeky grin that felt very familiar to Sora's own trademark smile. He acted the part of an idiot well, but his blue eyes, eyes that glow the same as the two twins, showed that he held a lot more wisdom than he was obligated to display. If he stood next to one of the photos of the late King Tsunami, the resemblance was uncanny. They were brothers, it was obvious.

No, the thing that made Roxas feel suspicious of his uncle was the lack of his presence after all the time that had passed. He'd disappeared long before the twins had been born and only now returned. From where? Where had he gone that he couldn't have checked on the safety of his family? Why after the massacre of Kingdom Hearts, after Sora's many years of absence, Roxas's abduction, their parent's death, their battle against Sephiroth, did he return now?

Cloud walked beside him silently, his eyes focused on the king's back. He was silent, focused, though at times seeming to be lost in thought as he followed along behind his former king. Leon had stayed back, said he needed to be near King Mickey so he'd be there if something came up. Cloud looked to be more focused on something involving the previously missing king anyway. Then again, Roxas was the same way since he didn't let Axel come with him.

It had nothing to do with not wanting the older male around. In fact, he'd been ready, eager even, for the red head to come along with him. But Zack, his uncle, had disagreed with it. He'd said that Axel wouldn't be able to go where the two of them were going, which made little sense to him. Especially since Cloud was coming along with them. But Cloud seemed to be going out his own obligation. Well that and Zack had said Cloud wouldn't be staying long.

Zack didn't say anything the whole time aside from whistling as he walked moving casually through the halls, moving as a person who knew their way through what was considered a labyrinth to others. Roxas had asked him several times before about where they were going, but he never got a straight answer other than "You'll see it when you see it."

It made him impatient to see what "it" was. He'd tried asking more questions before, about his parents, why Zack disappeared, just anything but he always ended up with the same "I'll tell you later," answer. Whenever he received this answer, Roxas would glance over at Cloud and see the little frown marring his lips. He'd probably been waiting to ask the same questions himself. Little good it did either of them it seemed.

"Alright, this is the place," Zack said not even waiting as he reached out easily finding the loose brick in the wall and pressing it making a hidden compartment slide to the side. The stairs it revealed led to the room where the Door to Light was housed. "You're in for a surprised now, kid." Roxas was not impressed. If he was trying to surprise him by showing him a door he already knew about then he'd be in for a big surprise himself. Even if the place was a labyrinth, Roxas knew this place. It was a familiar spot to him, mainly because of the picture that hung opposite that gave a good impression of what his family must have looked like. His mother and father…and even pictures of Sora and him when they'd been only babies. They looked happy, as happy as a family could be. But he'd never get to experience that kind of happiness, not now that the two parents that had brought the two children into existence were no longer here.

"Let's go," Zack said starting down the steps. Roxas turned away gladly, happy for the new distraction to not have to think about a past that didn't exist to him. The past meant nothing to a man if he couldn't even remember the faces of his own parents without the use of a picture. He followed Zack down the steps, Cloud moving in his shadows like a silent wraith. He'd been especially quiet since the big reveal of Zack being alive and the fact that Riku was gone and Sora unconscious. It was a lot to take in. Roxas knew because he felt the effects of it every time he went by Sora's room to check on him in hopes of him awakening. He felt responsible for the events that took place. In some ways, they all did. It couldn't be helped.

"Alright, we're here," Zack said turning around and smiling holding both his hands out to the side and grinning that cheeky grin. "What do you think?"

"…I've been here before."

"Really?" Zack's eyes widened in shock and Roxas almost laughed at the look. Almost. "When? Does it mean you've discovered it too?"

"…Discovered it?"

"Ah!" Cloud perked up suddenly, the sound causing Roxas to pulling out his keyblade beside himself. There was no immediate danger though as Cloud only seemed to have brought himself back to the present as he looked around before looking at Zack with those wide eyes. "Wait…you aren't getting ready to…."

"That's my plan," Zack said before he laughed at Cloud's gaping mouth. "Relax this is well overdue for his age anyway."

"What's overdue?" Roxas asked frowning and glaring at Zack. "What do you plan on making me do? I won't agree to it without an explanation."

"You want to get stronger, don't you?" Zack said, his look turning more serious now. It threw Roxas off, the suddenness of the personality change. Could a guy like this really look that way? "There's a secret here…known only to the royal family and a select few." As he said the words he smiled softly and glanced at Cloud. "It's how we make ourselves stronger. It's how I'm going to make you stronger if you're willing."

Roxas swallowed, licking at suddenly dry lips as he looked back at Cloud who seemed to give him a nod before he looked at Zack again. Stronger…that's exactly what he needed. He needed to get stronger in order to protect everyone, in order to protect his brother, his family and friends. He needed to get stronger in other to save Riku, the one his brother called his light. He didn't hesitate after that, looking at Zack with eyes glowing and ready for whatever the task asked for. "Alright…I'll do it. Whatever this training thing is, I'll take it on."

"Alright then." Zack moved walking towards the door but surprised Roxas as instead of going through he went around behind it. He'd been so certain the secret lay within the door. He moved too following after Zack and glanced back to look at Cloud. He was surprised to see that his trusted guardian didn't follow after them, instead standing by the door and watching and sliding down to sit as if he had no intentions of leaving for a while. But how long could this training thing be?

"Here," Zack said waiting until Roxas had come to stand beside him before he pointed his finger at a spot on the floor…not that he could see any spot but a floor. "Point your keyblade here." Roxas frowned but he did as he was told, pointing the keyblade at the ground waiting to see something happen. Nothing happened. The floor was still a floor. The two of them stared at it…and still nothing happened.

"Oh…right you need to use your light to activate it," Zack said rubbing at his cheek with a finger looking sheepish and, in Roxas's opinion, like a complete idiot. And this was supposed to be his uncle? The guy was a moron!

Sighing, Roxas only had to concentrate a little for the light to gather at the tip of his keyblade. He tapped the end of it against the floor and almost fell back when the floor responded. A weird symbol flashed into appearance glowing lightly thanks to his light. Different symbols spread from the initial one running along walls and floors alike. Roxas found himself spinning around staring all at the different symbols, where even more ran along the back of the Door to Light.

The wall slid to the side across the room from where Roxas stood. There was a white door there, sitting closed and completely off limits to them. It looked like your average door, made from wood with nothing to indicate what lay behind it. Along the door's exterior lay five symbols that resembled the sort of style the rest of the symbols in the room did though there was no glow to them.

Roxas looked at Zack letting the questions been seen running through his eyes. What was he supposed to be doing here? What did this have to do with training?

"Alright, squirt," Zack said confidently as he slapped his hand down against Roxas's back hard making him stumbles forward a bit with a yelp. "You've got two minutes to unlock that door otherwise you'll have to start all over again."

"Unlock the door?" Roxas looked again at the door, frowning as he didn't see a hand there or a keyhole like even the Door to Light had. "How am I supposed to unlock something like that?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell you that," Zack said as he walked back over to where Cloud was waiting for him, folding his arms over his chest. "Your training starts now. You'll have to figure it out yourself if you want to get inside and get to the real training." Roxas frowned at him and would have glared if the other hadn't given him the innocent yet cocky grin. What went through that thick skull of his uncle?

Sighing, Roxas turned facing the door completely. Ok…so there were symbols…and the room had symbols…so they must have to do with each other right? The first two minutes consisted of randomly poking at the symbols with both fingers and keyblades. Nothing responded to his attempts. The two minutes went by quickly, the illuminant symbols disappearing and the door being pushed back into hiding.

He grunted in frustration, looking over at Zack who seemed to have made himself comfortable as he sat talking with Cloud. At the look, Zack smiled at him and used a dismissive action with his hand telling Roxas to try it again.

Moaning in despair, Roxas sighed and turned his attention to the trigger once again sending his light into it. The symbols reappeared again. Some, he realized, had taken on knew shapes and moved around. The door, as strange as it was, appeared somewhere else in the room on another wall looking as boring and uninteresting as before. Once again there were five symbols on the door, this time different looking than the first set.

Frowning, Roxas used his keyblade to slash as the symbols in front of him on the wall. Nothing happened. He tried using his light shooting it into the symbols. He tried chanting magic words, physically beating the door, kicking it, hitting it, glaring at it. The door just stared back at him treating him like the moron he seemed to think he was.

Roxas was about to give up on this stupid endeavor when his eyes caught something he happened to noticed. There was a symbol here, right next to the door that looked exactly like one of the symbols, the third one fact, in the set on the door. He frowned then out of curiosity touched his fingers to it. Nothing happened…but he felt like he was close to the solution. He placed the keyblade to the mark, closing his light on the spot and felt his light being sucked it. The glowing symbol changed from a beautiful blue to a now snarky red. The symbol on the door seemed to reflect this, glowing just as brightly in response before it faded away like a quick pulse.

Tilting his head curiously, he tried it again then again, up until the two minutes had run out and he found himself staring at the place where the symbol had been. Frowning he activated the door again, feeling like he was on to something. He got lucky this time finding the first and the third symbols right near the door. He tried using his keyblade on the first symbol and was impressed to see that the glowing of the symbol did not fade away this time. But when he went to the third one and did the same thing, the third symbol on the door lit up before fading out at the same time that the first one did.

He looked over at Zack, who was watching him now and Roxas pointed to where the door was. "So I have to find all the symbols on this door to get it to open before the time runs out right?"

"Bingo," Zack said grinning and looking pretty proud of his sudden student.

"But…I also have to find them in order." Roxas frowned at the nod then looked at the door. Five symbols...never in the same place, never the same ones. When he looked around he remembered seeing the symbols fill up the walls and even the ceiling. If there was one on the ceiling…how was he going to get up there to get to it? Especially with only two minutes to spare?

"This is impossible," he said staring up at the walls, at the hundreds of thousands if not more symbols lining the walls, ceiling and floor. "There's no way I can find all these symbols in two minutes, not to mention make it in time to activate them all in order. And if one's on the ceiling I'm seriously screwed. I won't be surprised if the door shows up on the ceiling as well." Zack didn't say a word to deny it, just grinned. Bastard uncle….

"That's why I said this was part of your training?" Zack said tapping his fingers together bored and looking restless. He wasn't sure when Cloud had disappeared leaving just the two of them in the room now. Zack was leaned back on the wall, staring at him and sometimes through him as his eyes seemed to flicker at places quickly, before finally focusing on him again. "You'll have to be quick if you plan on making it through this to the real stuff."

"Well this is going to suck," Roxas said looking up at where the door had last been. He gripped the keyblade loosely before tightening it. "I might as well get this over with otherwise I'll never get out of here." The only thing he got in response was a quiet chuckle from his uncle and not so sympathetic blue eyes. Yeah…this was seriously going to get tiring quickly.

TBC…

* * *

Sorry, I'm like…technically three or something days behind on this. Seems like whenever it's close to the crunch time, my creative juices finally start to flow (and I stop procrastinating by playing video games and reading books). Also yay for random but not so random insert of Xigbar and Luxord getting some lines! So many characters in this game series in general that it's hard to get everyone at least one moment of limelight x.x And Zack….yay!


	48. Princely Garbs 48

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Was going to update two chapters today but because I go out of town like...now...I'll have to update the other one either Sunday or Monday. Either way, hope you enjoy!

Edit: Fix a couple of error spots such as wrong person talking...yeah...let's hope Seifer didn't turn into a she x.x

* * *

Princely Garbs 48

"What's the status on the situation now?"

Seifer coughed and had to turn quickly and cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud and drawing attention to himself. This was his first time seeing the Magic Kingdom's king in his true form. A mouse. Of all things, he was a mouse. The high pitched voice and big ears killed him every time he saw and heard him. Really…a giant mouse…how much more serious could this get?

"Zexion still hasn't picked up the trace," Saix said looking all serious and not even fazed by the fact that he was talking to a walking, talking, giant mouse. Zexion stood next to him listening and looking just as bland as the man beside him. They were completely missing the point of Seifer's humor here. "However, both Xigbar and Luxord have said they spotted sighting of black clouds coming from the northern horizon."

"I see…" Mickey started to pace resting his hands behind his back looking like a worried…well a worried mouse. Ever since Riku's disappearance, Mickey-along with his comrades- stayed in their true forms because it held more power for them. How could so much power be compacted into such little bodies, Seifer wasn't sure. The only one that seemed to be of average size, actually a little taller than Seifer himself, was Goofy. And he was a dog. Donald turned out to be a duck. And Mickey…

He's a freakin mouse.

"I want to send a patrol to scout the north." Mickey looked around checking everyone around the meeting room. Really there were quite a few people there, close friends that had started this adventure together, all of them connected to the boy who lay unconscious in his room. And unless they were busy elsewhere, are just not allowed inside like Tidus and the other young ones because of the gravity of the situation, they stood or sat around the room listening and waiting.

"I'll talk to Cid and Merlin later about providing us with quick ground transportation. I hate to ask this of anyone, but I need some volunteers." Seifer smirked because despite the situation he couldn't take the voice or the look seriously. Damn did Mickey really have to change his form right now? He thought he would have been freaked out when he'd first heard about it but now…

It's like he's a stuffed animal. He'll kill his opponents with laughter before the fight can even begin!

"I'll go," Leon said jumping up first. Of course he'd be the first to answer the call. That wasn't any surprise to Seifer though he did narrow his eyes a bit at the man. The scar across his face seemed to burn a little and he unconsciously reached up to touch it as he stared at Leon. He was always in competition with the man, felt like he could be better than him if he wanted to.

"I'll go too," he said lifting his hand up getting more than one pair of eyes staring at him. Some stared at him like he was crazy, some with an approving eye. Leon's eyes, however, barely glanced at him before looking away dismissively. He didn't care either way and that made Seifer clench his jaw in frustration. The bastard was going to pay for that.

"It's going to be very fast paced from here on out. Do you think you'll be able to handle it?" Mickey said looking at him with those mousey eyes and mousey ears and mousey nose and….

"I can do this, no problem," Seifer responded, his voice coming out muffled as his had his hand covered over it to keep the smirk from being seen on his face. Mickey probably would have taken it as him being cocky over the fact that he was being laughed at.

"We'll take Merlin along with us just in case we have to bail out instantly," Leon said ignoring Seifer yet again as he looked down at the mousey king. "We'll wait until morning to make out move. Doing it now would be stupid and a death wish."

"With the Door to Light and both princes here, we should be safe inside the palace for the time being. The darkness will not try to get into a place so well lit." Seifer would have said that one of those princes was currently out of commission and that the one that caused it was taken by a very bad man who controlled darkness like he breath. But, wisely in this case, he stayed silent. No reason to make anyone anxious even if, by the shifting of bodies, they already thought about the same thing themselves.

Mickey turned his little body to look at Zexion next. "I'm sorry to have to ask more of you but-"

"It's fine," the short male who was at least taller than the mouse king said. One eye, the only visible eye, resting on the mouse in all seriousness. Could he at least try to smile a little? "I'm the one that can catch scent of his darkness." He shrugged his shoulders. Seifer did NOT want to know what the man smelled. He honestly didn't feel comfortable around any of the organization members.

"We'll meet by the front gate bright and early," Leon said and looked at those going with a hard stare, not that Seifer let it faze him when it landed on him. "Bright and early." At those words everyone started to gossip and head for the door.

"Tsk." Seifer left but he wasn't the only one leaving since the meeting was over. He wasn't even two minutes away from the meeting room when he felt eyes on him. He turned around finding three pairs of different eyes looking at him. The looks on their faces resembled naughty children caught sneaking out of their room after bed time.

"What do you guys want?"

Tidus looked at the others before clearing his throat and stepping forward. The team leader again apparently. He was definitely going to have to teach his young boyfriend how to be a man. Kairi wasn't there, but he wasn't surprised by that considering the obvious.

"So…what happened?" Tidus asked nervously and Seifer felt his cheeks heat up at how cute the boy looked at that moment.

"…Nonya…"

"Nonya?" Tidus tilted his head. "What's that?"

"Non ya business." Seifer folded his arms over his chest as he spoke, frowning.

"Seifer…" Damn nosy brats but he knew this already. He glared…at Wakka who visibly jumped at suddenly being stared down.

"What? What'd I do, ya?"

"You're the same age as me," Seifer stated staring at him still and frowning now. "Why are you following up with his stupid antics?" He pointed his thumb down over Tidus's head.

"Hey!"

"Because they're fun, ya." Wakka smirked then and Seifer felt an urge to back away suddenly. Whenever Wakka did smirk, which was rare, it could only mean bad things. "Besides, who's the one that decided to date the idiot, ya?"

"Will you guys stop calling me an idiot?"

Seifer ignored Tidus's outburst. He couldn't even dignify that with a response. Honestly, he was still confused by it himself. The boy was annoying and an idiot…and loud…and a pest…. So why did he stay with him at all? A week ago if he'd heard Wakka say that he wouldn't have hesitated punching the smug look. Instead, he sighed letting his eyes rest on said young blonde's pouting face before he shook his head.

"Whatever just keep him out of trouble. He's an idiot."

"Hey!" Tidus looked like he planned to say more but when Seifer looked down at him he got quiet and looked away shyly. Cute…

"Dummy," Seifer hid his smile but he still rested his hand down on Tidus's head affectionately. They all knew about his feelings about Tidus, despite his best attempts to hide them. Guess a person can't hide when they are in love…as much as he hated to admit that word to himself. Love… Of course, Tidus with his big mouth probably had something to do with the whole...everyone knowing about their relationship stuff.

"Soooo…." Tidus looked up at him expectantly, holding Seifer's larger hand in his small ones and moving it so he had nothing to block his view. "You gonna tell us?"

"Nope." And he turned walking away ignoring how Tidus grabbed his shirt with both hands and tugged with all his might to keep him in place.

"Seifer! Come on! We want to help too! We want to help save Sora and Riku! They're our friends too!" It didn't work though, Seifer walking and dragging the boy along. "Seifer!"

"Look," Seifer said turning and glaring down at him in annoyance. "You idiots keep saying you want to help but can you even fight? And don't tell me you were trained to because I've seen it and it's sloppy," he said cutting off Tidus's protest before he could start. "You'll be useless where the fighting counts and I seriously doubt you'll be any help around the palace."

"That's mean!" Selphie yelled out stomping her foot on the ground and folding her arms.

"The bottom line is, you're useless," Seifer said not letting up. "And I can't trust you guys to not foil this up."

"Big poopy head!"

He was about to say a few choice words to her but the look he got, from the boy right in front of him made him shut up quickly. Crap…did he say too much? "So…I can't be trusted?" Tidus said looking sad and more than a little pained by the words. "I'm useless?"

"Tidus-"

"So all this time you never really trusted me? Is that why you wouldn't let me fight? Is that why you keep telling me to stay out of it?" Tidus started to turn away. "And to think I liked you." Seifer frowned.

"Nah, I think there's more to it, ya." Wakka walked over resting his hand on Tidus's head and grinned at Seifer, the other male frowning a bit and stepping back. Something told him he wasn't going to like where this was going.

"W-What do you mean?" Tidus looked up at him skeptical.

"Don't even think about saying what I think you're going to." Seifer said glaring at him.

Wakka only smirked in return. "All I'm going to say, ya, is that Seifer dun want you to go because he dun want you getting hurt. He's just trying to keep you out of harm's way."

"Hey!"

"Really?" Tidus was looking up at Seifer in wonder now and Seifer couldn't keep his face from reddening as he looked away.

"Tsk."

"He knows as well as the rest of us that you're not a slouch when it comes to fighting. So don't let him get to you. He's just trying to act like the tough wolf even though he's a softy on the inside,ya."

"S-Shut up!" Seifer yelled out and turned starting to walk away. "Idiots. All of you are idiots!" He would have kept walking if not for the sudden words that stopped him in his tracks.

"Come back safe, Seifer," Tidus called out after him. "I'll be waiting for you." He almost turned around, almost pulled the other into his arms. But his pride got the better of him as he nodded his head and threw up a hand in a form of a salute. He couldn't, not with the others there. It would have been fine had they been alone but, he was still trying to get past the whole loving Tidus thing. Besides, it wasn't any of their business what they did alone anyway so why show them anything?

TBC….

Short chapter is short x.x But yay for Seifer being Seifer! I hope...


	49. Princely Garbs 49

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay double Update! I'll never be capable of that again! :)

* * *

Princely Garbs 49

Patience had never been one of his strong points. In fact, you could say it was one of his biggest weaknesses. He could wait, but only for so long. He watched his nephew struggle against the door again and again. He couldn't help himself. Even though this was to help his young nephew, he wanted to help him get to the good stuff and get stronger faster.

He wanted to help so badly, in fact, that he found himself pumping his arms and legs by squatting down in place then standing up repeatedly until his leg muscles tightened. He couldn't help it. He was always full of energy when he got to this point. Even though sometimes it helped him to get control of whatever emotion or desire he had, it wasn't always guaranteed to work.

Like now.

"Here, let me show you how to do it," he said already making his way over to the younger boy who he'd noticed watching him like he was crazy during his mini episode.

Roxas frowned looking up at him. He looked tired, which it couldn't be helped considering how much of the light he used up. After all, he still hadn't learned how to completely control the light.

"I got it," he said in response. "Besides, this is supposed to be part of my training."

"Yeah, I know but…" Zack tilted his head pouting a little and trying to ignore the fact that Roxas stared at him like he was some sort of moron. He'd gotten enough of those looks in the past. "Look," he said and sighed when Roxas seemed to glare at him. He was so not being very cute at this moment. Did he get this side from his mother? Or maybe his grandmother? "I'm not saying this to be mean or anything," he continued. "But this process can take months, sometimes even years before you can get in. It's a slow way to make you get stronger and really I just wanted to see how much training we were going to have to give you."

The boy had this look like he was starting to care less and less about what his uncle had to say. Already his eyes were moving around at the fading symbols trying to find the right ones in the right order. The most he'd managed to get at one time was three. This particular part of the train wasn't meant to be opened within a couple of days. It was used as a test to see how far one had progress. Had he not shown up at Kingdom Hearts at all, it was possible Roxas would have never made it inside, even after years of training. Not that the boy even knew this was here in the first place.

"Alright, just stand back and watch my magic," Zack said. Roxas hesitated a bit before he finally, grudgingly, stepped back though he cast a cautious eye at him. He wished he could get the kid to stop being so suspicious of him. If he could have helped it, he would have showed up sooner to train the two twins. Well, had he known all the things that had befell Kingdom Hearts. He'd been devastated to come back and find the place in shambles. But now at least, he knew that some people have survived. And if Cloud, Auron, Roxas, and Sora were all here, all original people of Kingdom Hearts, then he knew deep down in his heart that there were others alive somewhere too.

No, he was lying. He knew about what truly befell Kingdom Hearts, how everyone had been stolen by the darkness. That's why he was here now, to hopefully set everything right. Except, the whole thing with the prince from Radiant Garden had happened and now they were stuck in a bind he wish he didn't have to worry about.

"Ok, now watch and learn," Zack said shaking himself from his thoughts. No time to regret about the past, he needed to get Roxas up to speed as soon as possible. Zack summoned his keyblade to him, hearing a gasp of surprise from Roxas when he did. He knew why though. His keyblade wasn't the boring plain looking type but looked pretty elaborate. It wasn't for lightweights, being a pretty hefty size, similar to the size of Cloud's sword. There were bandages wrapped around parts of the hilt and blade.

He pointed his keyblade down at the hidden lock, sending his light into it and causing the symbols and the door to appear again. This time the door lay across the room but it didn't matter where it was. He tapped into his power, his body glowing slightly. He saw the hidden symbols, all five of them as if they were the only things lit in the room like stars against the darkness of night.

He moved, rushing up towards the first symbol, his body seeming to just flow like clouds in the sky as he stepped forward and was there activating the first symbol. Quickly he jumped back landing on the ground next to the second symbol lying on the floor and tapping his keyblade to it not even stopping to see if it changed colors or not. He took off, hitting a third one on the opposite wall, a fourth one beside it, and finally flying up into the air to hit the fifth and final symbol.

He barely felt the rumbling of the door open as he landed lightly, the light that surrounded him dimming until there was nothing left to be seen. He looked over at Roxas and seemed to beam happily when he saw the awed staring eyes and gaping mouth staring at him. When Roxas seemed to notice how Zack was staring at him, his eyes narrowed, his lips twisting down slightly into a small letter U. But Zack didn't miss it, the look of approval in his eyes.

"Let's go before the door closes," Zack said starting to walk off. All it took was the sound of footsteps following him to let him know Roxas was right behind him. If Roxas thought that was amazing, he was in for a surprise once he saw what the three training would bring.

* * *

Cid frowned glowering tiredly at King Mickey as he stood beside his beautiful girl, the Highwind X2. He called it that because he'd been working on some remodeling and fixing up some things on it like the new anti-darkness shields. Well…granted that last part was still in the works but still. He didn't like being disturbed from his work if he could avoid it.

That's why he had the small hunk of wood laid out beside the perfect airship. He'd been working all day yesterday and last night with no rest to get it done. And though it wasn't pretty or even remotely as complete as he'd wanted it to be, he could at least feel confident enough to send Leon and his crew out into the vast stretch of land in relative safety. There were three seats in the front and one in the back behind the middle seat. He'd added a few components that he'd taken from older models such as the small jet pack at the back of the miniature plane and the small propeller that was more like decoration in the front. The small jet pack had a wire that slide from a small hole at the bottom of the plane into the back seat. A button was connected to it that so, when pressed by the person in the back, would fire up the jet engine. At most, it'd last at least thirty minutes. They wouldn't have time to play around out there. Small wheels adorned the bottom of the plane so that it would easily ride along the ground which, without an engine to fly, would probably be the end result.

Now flying wouldn't be a problem, as long as Merlin was there. As much as Cid didn't like his creations being near the mage, he'd prefer it at least to the heartless attempting to destroy it. Still, that didn't mean he liked this idea of the others going out into god knows where to look into something they probably wouldn't be able to handle.

"It shouldn't be much longer now, damn it," Cid said chewing on the end of his cig as he looked up at his Highwind X2 wishing he could be working on her again. He'd installed a prototype version of the anti-darkness shield onto the small plane, for testing and hopefully for protection if it worked. His small, bug zapper as Riku liked to call it, had been installed to the small plane, now known as Tiny Bronco. He'd modified it since, making it into what it was now…a threat detector. If anything tried to come up unexpected, especially the darkness, It'd give off a little beeping beacon to let you know how close it was. The closer you get to it, the louder it would get.

And people say he's not a genius…psh.

"Exactly what the hell are you planning by sending these guys out there?" Cid asked staring down at the mouse. Mickey didn't even look up at him, a small frown marring his mouse lips which just seemed far too unusually to the usually perky personality he liked to show off.

"I don't really know," Mickey said, the high pitched voice distracting Cid for a moment. It'd take him a long time to get used to it. "I'm hoping maybe we can find some answers or a solution or something."

"….Hm." Cid shifted his lips, the burned end of his cig dropping down to the ground in ashes. He could feel the smoke from his cigarette burning his nose, the smell strong yet satisfying to him. To hell with what everyone else said, he needed his kicks. "So...the kid still sleep?"

King Mickey gave a little nod of his head, then closed his eyes letting out a soft sigh before opening them again. "I can't tell what's happened…I've never seen something like this before." He clenched his fist looking down at his hand. "For Riku to have so much darkness in him…what does it mean?"

Cid didn't really have an answer for that. The darkness, something that was a part of everyone except a select few. People as long as they existed would have darkness inside them. They, essentially, couldn't live without it. It'd be too unnatural. But then everyone should have light inside of them too. The more light that shines, the stronger the shadows that are cast from it. Without it, there would be no balance. Was it possible that Riku was like Sora but the polar opposite? Sora held no darkness…the family of Kingdom Hearts held no darkness. Then that would mean that Riku held no light…and his family…?

"Hey…mouse man," Cid said drawing the other's attention to him as he slipped a new cigarette into his mouth stepping on the old one that had dropped down to the ground. "I have a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"Riku's dad…did he have this damn darkness problem too?" Cid walked over to his work bench and kneeled down picking up a couple of tools. While down there he placed the end of his cig into the lantern flames to light it before sitting and looking over at Mickey. Even then the mouse was still shorter than him. Cid was going to end up with permanent neck injuries after this.

"Hm?" Mickey blinked looking up at him. "Hmm…" He seemed to think about it further before he frowned. "I'm not sure."

"Tsk. I got to Radiant Garden after he had passed way so I only knew him by the family photos."

"Hmm…Ansem would have been the person to ask..." Mickey didn't say anything behind those words, frowning as he thought about the late Ansem.

"Well what about Merlin? He's been around for like what…forever?" Damn old guy and his magic and stuff.

"…Merlin…he has been there a long time, since Riku was born and…." Mickey stopped and looked over at him. "…Cid!"

"What!" Cid jumped at the sudden yell of his name.

"You're a genius!" Before Cid even had a moment to ask him about it, Mickey was off using his mouse feet and running for the castle. It would have been nice to know what the hell made him suddenly a genius.

"The hell…what's his problem anyway?" Cid pulled his cig from his lips blowing a puff of smoke out into the air as he looked over at the Tiny Bronco. Well, the crew wouldn't be leaving out for another hour or so. He could at least work on some finishing touches to it, like at least paint it or some crap. It looked like Leon on a bad day when he didn't get any sleep.

"Actually…it might be perfect." He couldn't help the little smirk that lifted to his lips before he pushed to his feet grumbling as he rubbed his back. He pushed up his sleeves and dropped his cig stepping on it and adding it to the three or four already on the ground before cracking his knuckles staring down at the Tiny Bronco. "Let's take care of this and get this dumb plan out of the way so I can finally get some rest."

The little threat detector just chirped happily in response, zapping a small fly that was buzzing by. Well…at least it still had its other use at least.

TBC…..

* * *

Whoo, as much as I missed being home, I dread going to work tomorrow. But I am already working on the next chapter so that's a good thing, right? Right?


	50. Princely Garbs 50

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: And yay for making it to fifty chapters!

Princely Garbs 50

The next couple of hours brought about a bustle of preparation. All four selected scouts were present, or at least three of the four originally meant to go. Considering that Mickey had decided to steal Merlin away for one reason or another, they'd had to come up with a suitable substitute. Mickey hadn't even bothered to tell them why Merlin wasn't going which kind of frustrated Leon since he didn't want to be left out of the loop if it was something important.

So instead they were talking Xaldin with them. The man with his long dreadlocks was almost as quiet as Zexion except for the occasional snide remark. Since he had the ability to control air, mostly to create winds, he could at least propel the dumb Mini Wind if the jet pack failed them. It might even be possible he'd be able to get them to fly too. At least that made Leon's job easier. He didn't doubt that he couldn't rely on any of them. Even though he'd have rather Cloud went instead of Seifer, he knew the former cadet could handle himself.

Considering that said man had managed to strike him once where not many others could did say something. Seifer was strong and he did have the skills to fight. His problem laid in his defies and arrogant attitude. He was a rebel, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing in certain cases.

Seifer had proved himself to be reliable when he showed his mature side and protected the people of Radian Garden. He could be trusted to protect the lives of others and himself. That was something he could be proud of.

Right now, Cid was being showing them the basics of the Mini High or whatever it was called. Leon stared at the thing dubiously. It was obvious it wasn't originally meant to fly. The small wings looked like they couldn't even lift a small kitten from the ground. The smell of fresh paint reached his nose and he could see where small chocobos had been painted to the sides. He'd only ever seen a chocobo once before and that had been before he'd come to Kingdom Hearts, back when he'd been known as Squall Leonhart.

"…and ya better be damn well delicate with her," Cid finished up gnawing on the end of his smoking stick as he gave Leon a hard stare. "She may not be in the best shape but I better see her back in one piece, damn it!"

"Whatever." Leon moved, letting his eyes roam over the pile of wood quickly before he climbed in taking the driver's seat in the middle. Of course he was driving. He was the leader and he'd rather deal with the hassle of leading verses Cid's wrath if something happened to the piece of compiled junk.

"Seifer, you get in the back."

"Whoa, wait! What the hell! Why me?"

"Because," Leon stated looking at him with an annoyed glare. "I need someone to man the Jet…thing-"

"Jet pack."

"….Jet pack since Xaldin and Zexion will be too busy to help operate the Mini High-"

"Tiny Bronco."

"….Whatever," Leon finished glaring at Cid only to be glared back at in return. Cid was one of the few rare people that could handle his glares. Probably because he was an ornery old man himself anyway…even though he'd probably kick Leon's butt for calling him old.

"…Then you get in the back," Seifer said pointing a thumb over at the aforementioned chair.

"No."

"And why not? I'm capable of driving."

"Because I said so."

"You know," Seifer said glaring at Leon now. Great, now two of them were ornery. "This is complete bull-"

"And I can easily find someone else to do it." And at those words, Leon thought of Cloud who he'd talked to moments earlier and explained everything to. Though Cloud didn't verbally disagree to the plan, he could tell from the blonde's eyes that he didn't approve of it. Still, they were soldiers. They followed orders, regards of personal feelings. If Leon had brought Cloud along, he knew his priority would have been to protect him, despite the fact that he had others to look after. It was the perfect reason for why Cloud couldn't come. But it left his heart at ease to think that Cloud would be in a safe place. Since when did he start thinking like that?

"…Tsk." But Seifer didn't argue anymore as he climbed into the back seat. The argument was won. No matter how good Seifer thought he was there was no way he could go against his commander. Because he also knew from past experiences that Leon wouldn't hesitate to beat him into submission and fill his next days with humiliation through laboring work and training. Leon didn't hesitate to do that with any of their soldiers even though Seifer was a special case because he actually could give him a challenge in fighting.

And since he'd lost a lot of his trained soldiers in the invasion of Radiant Garden, he was going to have to start training up new recruits. But the first thing would be rescuing Riku from Xehanort otherwise there really wouldn't be a kingdom to return to.

"Little Nav here can help you to navigate by telling ya how close ya are to the darkness," Cid said, the former bug zapper beeping happily when its creator patted the top of it. "Lil thing's been through medication hell and it's hard to make so don't break it. Especially you!" Cid said pointing to Seifer.

"…Whatever, old man." Seifer was also known to be pretty destructive when he got angry. The fact that Cid was now glowing at Seifer made Leon smirk. At least it wasn't just him anymore.

"Whatever. Let's get going." He watched the others climbing into place, Xaldin to his left and Zexion to his right. Once everyone was strapped down with the use of the metal clasp Cid had installed, he nodded his head then reached up pulling on a pair of goggles. Everyone else seemed to follow suit but he still had one more thing he needed to do. He turned around and looked back at Seifer, who didn't seem to notice until after his goggles had been adjusted on his head.

"What now?"

"…I'm trusting you on this," Leon said then frowned and reached out resting his hand on Seifer's shoulder. The other looked at the hand and even stiffened up before looking back at him. It was hard to see his eyes with the dark lenses of the goggles blocking them from view. "You have a very important job," he continued. "Without your actions, we'd be nothing more than sitting ducks."

He was just stating a fact. The person manning the jet pack would have to measure out just how fast and how much compressed air or whatever it was they could use. Cid told them that as long as the Tiny Bronco kept moving, they wouldn't have to use as much since the wheels would keep rolling with just a little pressure unless they're going up a hill. And even if they did have Xaldin there for backup with his wind power, there was no telling for how long he'd be able to use it.

It would be a tough job but he believed in the choice he made in keeping Seifer with them. "I trust you to keep us alive," he said. He could imagine the look of shock that passed over Seifer's face, the fact that his mouth gaped open was a dead giveaway he was surprised. Leon did not give out praises. It was rare of him to even say, "Good job," for something done well.

"…No pressure, right?" Something truly amazing happened at that moment, something that caught Leon completely off guard. For the first time ever, Seifer actually smiled at him like a friend. And for the first time ever…he smiled back.

He turned his attention straight ahead again, out towards the plush green grasses onto the hard plains of rock and dirt behind it. The darkness was there, closer now than when Xigbar and Luxord had first reported it. The darkness was coming, and somewhere in that mess, their young prince must be sitting there waiting for them. He felt in that instance like there was more out there, more waiting for him. As if there was something that he'd forgotten, that they'd all forgotten.

Leon shook his head, tightening his lips as he gripped the steering wheel and gave a nod of his head. He took a chance glance towards Cid standing off to the side and staring at them with a grim look on his face. He obviously didn't want this to happen as much as they didn't. They were all pretty much putting themselves in harm's way. With Xigbar being the exception to being the only one of the former Organization members who could easily teleport himself one hundred percent of the times he tried to, the other former members were only putting themselves in danger.

They said their abilities to teleport were ebbing away faster every day. Eventually they wouldn't be able to teleport at all. It was possible that they'd even lose the limited abilities to use their light as well. It'd only be a matter of time before they found themselves being nothing more than just common ordinary humans. So if something happened to the four of them out there, he couldn't be completely confident Xaldin and Zexion would be able to teleport back safely to tell of what happened.

The sound of the jet starting up reached his ears giving off a high whining sound that grated at his brain. If the heartless did hear them, he hoped the sound would at least make them run for the hills. As the sound got louder, the small hunk of wood and paint slowly started to roll forward. Cid at least seemed excited to see his creation move as he gave a nod of approval. And then, Seifer gave it even more juice and they were gone, rolling as such high speeds towards the darkness that the others couldn't help but to hang out. Overhead, the clouds seemed to darkness with the prospect of a coming storm. Great…this was going to be fun.

* * *

"Hey."

Cloud looked up when he heard Auron's voice before giving him a nod of his head in greeting. He was watching the new trainees in the courtyard as they gathered able body men and young boys who thought they might want to learn to fight. There was no telling for how long they would stay safe in the palace, even if the family of Kingdom Hearts and the Door to Light were here. They needed people that could fight, that could help protect the women and children and the elderly as well.

The sight of the upcoming storm clouds coming wasn't helping things in the least. Cloud looked up towards the sky, frowning at the dark forms and hearing the faint sound of thunder. The smell of undeveloped rain reached his nose. A storm was coming.

It worried him. It worried him because with the sun blocked out, the sky would cast about a dark haze that seemed to steal away the light of day. The horizon of darkness seemed to stretch to him and he found himself looking away, back towards the training children. He didn't want to think about the fact that right this moment Leon was heading towards that very darkness in search of their prince. It was foolish to try taking that on with only four people. Even if they used all the people in the palace, they'd never be able to fight the amount of darkness heading towards them now.

But they'd have a better advantage here in the palace since the creatures of darkness hated light. Tidus managed to knock down one of the amateur trainees before he grinned, his friends cheering him on. They couldn't see it, but Cloud could. He was tense…he was worried. But he wasn't letting his friends see it. But Cloud saw it…he saw it because he felt the same way. He was worried about Leon…he was worried about Riku and Sora and everyone else that was working hard right now. But Leon was still his dominant concern. He should have demanded to go with him, but he knew Leon would never able to fully concentrate with him there and vice versa.

He wanted to protect Leon with his life…Leon probably wanted to protect Cloud's with his. Neither option would be satisfactory to them.

"Hey," Auron said again and when Cloud turned to look at him he found himself pretty close to the other's face. The older man was still very handsome, very attractive. He had no doubts in his mind that if Auron had stayed around, his feelings might have grown to infatuation as they did with Leon. Not that he knew if Auron even liked men. It wasn't that normal of an occasion even if it seemed to Cloud as if all the men he knew were only into each other. That included Tidus and Seifer's relationship that Tidus unintentionally let everyone know about.

"Auron," Cloud said and stepped back to look up at the man properly. "…Do you think we can do it?"

"Do what?"

"…Do you think we can save Riku?"

Auron shrugged staring down at him without even the slightest inkling into what he was thinking. He was good at that, just like Leon. Both men guarded their emotions like their lives depended on it. "We defeated Sephiroth."

"Yeah…but this enemy." Cloud turned around staring towards the trainees as he leaned back against the wall surrounding the courtyard they were in. "We've never fought something so strong before. Even worse, it's inside Riku's body."

"You told me once before that you trust Riku, that he'd never let himself submit to the darkness."

"But…now that Xehanort has taken his body…"

"It's still Riku's body," Auron said resting his hand down on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud stared up at Auron in shock. There was so much unshakeable confidence in those words that Cloud found himself faltering. "It's still his…we just have to remind him of that fact."

"But…"

"The owner of Riku's body, heart, and soul is Riku." The big hand on his shoulder squeezed comfortingly and Cloud found himself relaxing, staring up into the confident eye and feeling hope spring up inside of him.

"You're right," Cloud said smiling a little and glancing away again somehow feeling the eye of the other staring at him. "It'll be hard without Sora here to help us, but you're right. We just have to make him remember that he is the boss of his own being."

"If we can make him reject Xehanort from his body, our fight will be much easier."

"We'll figure something out," Cloud said with strong assertiveness.

"Yeah," Auron smiled at him and for a moment Cloud thought he saw something else pass over the man's eye. It passed by quickly and the next thing he knew he was watching the older man walking away. "Come on, let's see if Vexen and Lexaeus have found any leads on helping Sora."

Cloud didn't say anything but he did follow Auron, staring at his back and frowning, unconsciously lifting a hand up to touch at his lips. He found himself wondering why the look he saw reminded him of how Leon looked at him when he wanted to kiss him. It made him blush at the thought that Auron might want to kiss him, even though unbeknownst to him, Auron had already initiated that action.

At a slow gait he continued to follow after his former commander, keeping his eyes on his back while also glancing towards the horizon until the interior of the palace blocked his view of the approaching storm. He could only hope that Leon made it back soon. He was missing his warmth already.

TBC….

* * *

I sense bad things a brewing D: And I loves me some Auron. :D


	51. Princely Garbs 51

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Bit of a longer chapter this time :D And apparently the edit break thing I used to use with this editor has stopped working again x.x Doubt theone I'm about to put here will work but it's worth a try? Enjoy! :o

Edit: It didn't work :(

Princely Garbs 51

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They rode in silence, though that didn't mean that everything was silent. The sound of the wind blowing past Seifer's ear mixing with the jet's gentle humming and the rocking of the Tiny Bronco over the rocky ground of the plains east of Kingdom Hearts was enough to put a person to sleep. No one would be able to sleep right now though, not with the gloom of what lay before them. Everyone's eyes remained on the darkness ahead. They were nearing the line where darkness began.

Seifer eased his finger off the button effectively slowing them down. He knew not to get too close. He wasn't stupid, not by a long shot.

"Man, look at all that," Seifer said staring at the hundreds and hundreds of Heartless yards in front of them. There didn't seem to be an end to them at all. The army looked like it was five, no maybe even ten times bigger than the one at Radiant Garden. Even he felt intimidated.

Little Nav was beeping like crazy on the front dash but luckily they seemed to go unnoticed. There were some Heartless flying overhead which it might have been a good thing that they couldn't fly right now. Heck, he didn't even know heartless could fly. Hopefully Cid's anti-darkness deflector thing was actually working if they did get spotted.

Storm clouds appeared out of nowhere overhead in startling swiftness. Even worse, it was darkening up the sky and blocking out the much needed light. Not to mention he really didn't want to get soaked right now. He'd prefer to stay dry if he could. Stupid Cid, he should have installed a cover on this damn thing or something.

"We shouldn't stay here long," Leon said in front of him apparently thinking the same thing he was or so he hoped. Rain sucked.

The commander turned around to look at Seifer but ended up looking over Seifer's head. The next thing he knew, he was being manhandled as Leon reached out grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him forward roughly as far as the seatbelt would let him.

"H-Hey, what the –" He felt the rush of air behind him and looked over his shoulder seeing the large Heartless behind him.

The damn beast was huge being several feet taller than Seifer even if he stood up. It looked solid, almost muscular in build, yellow eyes glowing as it stared at them. It sent an involuntary shudder through his body because the Heartless didn't have any emotion or life to its empty eyes.

The beast lifted its hand swiping again at them. Even though Seifer instantly flinched, still being held in place by Leon, the monsters attack did little good. A shield appeared where the monster struck deflecting the large claws. When the attack was over the shield easily faded away.

"The anti-darkness shield," Leon said softly as the four of them stared at the creature.

"The what?" Seifer looked at him then blinked. Right…that thing. "How long is this dumb deflector supposed to hold out for?"

"I'd take it long enough for what we need to do," Leon turned his head looking at the army of darkness. He stared for a long time like he was searching for something there. Well, honestly they were searching for something. They were trying to find Riku. "…We're going in."

"What?" Seifer yelled out then cursed himself for being so loud. He grabbed Leon's shoulder turning him around again. By now Xaldin and Zexion who had been staring at the Heartless, were now staring at them with a mix of emotions. Zexion looked indifferent while Xaldin just looked…constipated or something. He even uttered the word childish under his breath, but Seifer just ignored him when he did. He would have blamed that on the fact that Xaldin just annoyed him in general but he knew the reason was because of the crazy thing Leon had just said.

"I said we're going in," Leon repeated as he shrugged Seifer's hand off his shoulder and turned around.

"Excuse me but…do you not see the giant army of Heartless heading our way?" Seifer gestured with an outstretched hand towards the army steadily moving closer to them. "What you're talking about is suicidal and stupid!"

"You're free to abandon the mission." The way he said it was smooth and very cool. Seifer glared at him. Of course he knew Leon wouldn't abandon him here or so he thought anyway. But on the upper hand he had a better chance of living than staying with this bunch. "If we move fast enough," Leon continued, "the Heartless won't have time to think about attacking. The anti-darkness shield will protect us."

"And what happens if it fails?" Seifer questioned with hostility. He liked this dangerous plan less and less. He wondered if Leon would have followed through with this had Cloud been here. "We should go back, regroup, and rethink our strategy," he continued urgently. "What good are we to the prince and the others dead?"

Leon had a look on his face like he wanted to dispute it…or even just to punch Seifer in the face. But his eyes softened as he exhaled a breath of air. "You're right," Leon said then looked up at the Heartless beating in futile on the shield. Seifer was more shocked at the fact that Leon agreed with him. He was really starting to respect this man more than he wanted to. Damn it, when did Leon get such a change in heart anyway? In the past he would have just told him to shut up and follows orders. "Let's head back and talk to the kings about what to do next."

"Cid may be able to give us more info on how long the anti-darkness shield works," Zexion interjected.

Seifer breathed a sigh of relief as he sat back in his chair giving an unsettling glance back at the Heartless still trying to get to them before pushing on the button easing them into moving. Leon guided the Tiny Bronco to turn around towards kingdom Hearts before Seifer pressed his finger a little harder on the button. Overhead he saw a streak of lightning going across the sky followed by a loud clap of thunder. The storm was coming faster than he expected, the wind picking up to blow any which way. They needed to get back quickly before they ended up getting soaked through.

The Tiny Bronco jerked forward before he pressed down on the button harder sending the little mini ground plane rolling at a pretty decent speed across the ground. The little propeller on the front gave a high buzzing sound while it rotated at high speeds.

Seifer felt like everything was going well. He'd get back in good timing and meet up with Tidus to call him an idiot and tease him until his cheeks were apple red. He missed the boy, as much as hated admitting that even to himself.

Their destination suddenly seemed to change as Seifer realized they were turning away from Kingdom Hearts. He found the shadows of Heartless in front of him again and he frowned.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing up there?!" Seifer yelled to the front. This wasn't part of their plan. Was Leon still going to go through with that stupid idea anyway? "Turn around you idiot!"

"I'm trying to," Leon yelled because the wind. But even with that Seifer heard the strained sound of his voice when he spoke, like he was struggling. "My body's not listening to me!"

"Then make it listen!" Seifer yelled out getting more desperate the closer they got to the darkness. Seifer let go of the button, though it'd take a minute for them to stop rolling, especially at the speeds they were moving at. Was Leon just playing around or did something really happen to him? He wouldn't be able to check until Tiny Bronco stopped moving. "And you two! Can't you do more than just sit there?"

There was no response, not even a bit of movement. Seifer frowned as they slowed to a stop. Something was definitely wrong. He was starting to get a little weirded out. Unbuckling himself, he leaned up quickly and grabbed Zexion's shoulder shaking him hard.

"Hey, do something, idiot!" Zexion's head lolled around before falling back, blank eyes staring up at him. Seifer recoiled back quickly thinking the other was dead until he stared at him. No, he wasn't dead…his eyes were still watching him even though nothing else was moving. Seifer's body shuddered and he quickly looked away to climb out of the Tiny Bronco. He walked around to the side of Xaldin and waved his hands in front of him. No response aside from the movement of eyes. With a shake of his head, he went to the front and looked down at Leon before looking further down at the hands still on the wheel.

"We've got to move these," Seifer said to himself, not even glancing up when he heard the sound of thunder overhead again. A few drops of rain fell on his head. These he ignored too as he reached down pulling as hard as he could. Leon's hands, not even his fingers budged. "How the hell are you holding on so tight?" He yelled out stunned. It was like Leon had become a piece stone. What the hell was going on? Two of their guys were in some weird unmoving state and now Leon's body wasn't being very cooperative. If he wasn't controlling his body, then who was?

"Pull harder," Leon grunted out just as the onslaught of water seemed to open up over them from the clouds. Seifer had been pulling harder, so hard that Leon's wrists were red from where he'd been gripping them and pulling them.

"Trying! Shut up now," Seifer panted out easily losing his grip now that their hands were slippery from the rain. "Crap!" He panted hard, sliding a wet palm over his face in frustration. This was stupid! Just so stupid! What the hell were they even doing out here anyway?! He was glad, at least that his hair wasn't long like Leon's who's longer blades were not covering his eyes thanks to the rain.

"This sucks! This sucks so much!" Seifer yelled out turning and moving away from the Tiny Bronco. How the hell were they going to fix this stupid mishap? At least with the other two there they could have found a way around it but…man this sucked!

"Seifer…" He looked up at the call of his name but Leon wasn't looking at him…he was looking past him. Seifer felt the chill run down his spine and he turned quickly pulling his gunblade free.

He found himself facing two hooded figures standing there dressed in black robes. The only things visible besides the fingers poking from the long sleeves were the lips twisted up in a crooked smirk. They seemed familiar to him somehow. Despite the downpour of rain drenching everything it touched, the two figures stayed dry.

"Who are you guys?" Seifer asked none too friendly as he glared pulling his gunblade free and gripping it to point at them. The slightly taller one stepped forward not even fazed by the fact that he had a weapon pulled on him.

"The one you've been looking for," he said pulling the hood from his head, giving a charming smiles even as his eyes glowed bright yellow.

"Riku?" Seifer started to let his guard down seeing the young male before him and moved forward walking a few more steps away from the Tiny Bronco. But he shook his head and stared at the man hard. This wasn't Riku, but someone controlling him, someone he'd learned about only recently though he'd never seen the man before. "Xehanort…"

"Congratulations," Riku…no Xehanort said as he slowly clapped his hands. "I didn't think you'd be smart enough to figure it out."

"Hmph." Seifer smirked. "And I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to come out here knowing we're looking for you." He tilted his head back towards the others in the Tiny Bronco without letting his grip loosen on the gunblade. "What'd you do to them?"

"Oh, you noticed that too?" He laughed, not the soft chuckle that Riku normally gave, but a guffaw that sounded far too old for Riku's body. "They're in my control now." The figure standing by Xehanort still hadn't moved but it didn't mean it was being ignored. Seifer was watching them both, being at his highest alert state now.

"People touched by the darkness will always be connected to me." Xehanort lifted his hand looking at it like he'd never seen it before. "They are…mine to control and use as I wish."

"We're…not your pawns," Leon said from behind him and Seifer was sure he felt the heat of the glare directed at the former Riku. Seifer saw Xehanort starting to move towards him, saw him walk past him like it was nothing. He turned around to stop him but blinked and jumped back quickly finding the other figure in front of him suddenly. How had they moved so fast? How did they get here in front of him when they were just…! This person…he knew them from somewhere. He tried to duck his head to see the other, but they just tilted their head down more so he couldn't see. Still…he could feel the eyes under the hood watching him.

"Where is your other little friend?" Xehanort said as he stood behind the figure but in front of Leon and used two fingers to push Leon's chin up forcing the pair of angry blues to look at him. Other little friend? Who was he talking about? Maybe he was talking about Sora or Roxas…no that didn't make sense…didn't he see them both before he left the palace? Then who…? "I was hoping to play with him as well. Instead…you bring this…useless idiot in his place…." He gestured back at Seifer when he said that.

"Hey now," Seifer said feeling anger swelling up inside him. He made to move again but the figure in front of him picked up on it and moved again as well to block him. "Tsk."

"So where is he?" Xehanort asked returning his attention to Leon, as if it'd ever left. He tilted his head looking at Leon like he was inspecting some weird new creature or toy. "Where is Cloud?" Cloud? What did he want with Cloud?

"What do you want with him?" Leon yelled in anger. His dark blue eyes seemed darker even with the unnatural glow to them Seifer found himself to be unfamiliar with. Seifer had never seen anything like it. He'd never seen Leon lose control of his emotions before.

Xehanort said nothing but in the next instance Leon was unbuckling his seatbelt. The sudden movement from the Tiny Bronco stunned Seifer to silence. When he saw Leon climb out of the Tiny Bronco, the shock broke to suspicion. Leon was moving now? What happened to change that?

"Leon, what are you-"

"It's not me," Leon said glaring angrily at Xehanort.

"That's right," Xehanort confirmed. "I'll be taking care of this one for a while." Leon stopped in front of Xehanort and was forced to his knees in front of him. He bent his head forward taking Xehanort's hand in his own and kissed his ring finger. "He is one of the pieces to my game after all."

"We're not your toys to do what you want! You might force him to serve you now but that doesn't mean he's loyal to you." He moved again. The figure mimicked him. He found himself really wanting to hurt this person. Who were they anyway?

"I don't need loyalty." Xehanort held out his hand, the keyblade appearing in his hand. It looked the same as the one Riku usually had, the power of light and darkness racing along the length of it unadulterated. "I need only obedient servants and slaves to follow my instructions."

"Tsk." This was getting dangerous. Xaldin and Zexion were still sitting unmoving in the Tiny Bronco.

"You're going to go back and bring Cloud to me."

"What!" Seifer yelled out in an enraged outburst. "You can't tell me what to do!" What stopped him from moving this time wasn't the figure in front of him but the keyblade resting against Leon's neck.

"You will if you value his life." Seifer glared, seeing a bit of blood slide down his neck. He cursed, keeping his infuriated eyes on the man who stole Riku's body. He'd never know the keyblade to be able to harm a body, at least not when he'd seen Sora or Roxas use it. But this time…it was drawing blood…was it because of the darkness?

"Go," Leon said softly then harder when he shifted his eyes over to look at him. "Go…protect them…protect Cloud…don't let him-" the words cut off, his eyes still looking at Seifer even though his lips said nothing.

"Yes go," Xehanort said leaving Leon kneeling on the ground and walking over towards him. "Tell them…tell him that we'll be waiting at the tower of darkness. If they want to save him…they'll have to come get him."

"Fine…I'll go." Even though he agreed to go he didn't agree to bring Cloud back. Not when he knew that this lunatic wanted him for some unknown reason. He saw the way Leon looked at him and he just gave a nod of his head. The other seemed satisfied with his answer, the panicked look in his eyes dimming down if only a little.

"Good…I'll make sure you follow my directions like a good little pawn." Xehanort rested his hand on Seifer's neck but before the blond could push it off he felt a prick against his skin.

"Ah!" He pushed the hand back and reached up touching his neck quickly to pull it back seeing the blood there. He stared at it before he looked up at Xehanort. "What did you just do!"

"Nothing you need to worry yourself over," he said in return as he walked over to the other hooded figure. "Now be gone with you."

Seifer started to follow after him, or he would have it weren't for the fact that is feet were taking him in the opposite direction towards the Tiny Bronco. He tried to look back at the man, but he couldn't move his head. It seemed that at some point, Xaldin had moved to take over the Tiny Bronco as he was now in the driver's seat. Seifer found himself forced back into the back seat as well before he pushed down on the button and sent them heading off towards Kingdom Hearts.

By the time they'd gained even a small ounce of control in their bodies, they were already pulling up to the palace.

TBC….

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Done! Intense, intense! I think this is getting more intense! It woulda been updated sooner, by a few hours, but...watching this "You're beautiful" Korean drama...has been far too addicting this time around X.X I think we're getting close to the kick off time now :) Hope you enjoyed!


	52. Princely Garbs 52

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Been kinda sick the past four weeks plus not getting enough time to edit and post up these fics. This one's completely and I'm currently working on and editting the other three chapters. Hopefully they will be posted up by this weekend. And I'm still coughing. x.x

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Princely Garbs 52

While Seifer and the others were in the midst of heading towards the Heartless army, Roxas was busy with his training. The week long amount of training he got while inside the training room was equivalent to half a day in the real world. He was tired, just flat out exhausted but he wouldn't allow himself to rest until he was stronger.

Zack had left at one point. He wasn't sure when or even for how long since his concept of time was all jumbled up. There was no sun, no moon, or a sky to indicate day or night. Whenever his stomach rumbled, Zack was already there with plenty of food to reenergize him.

As time seemed to float on by slowly he slowly gained more control over his powers. Zack would help out with pointers and new ideas but for the most part he let him practice on his own. The idea behind it was so Roxas could develop his own ideas and style of fighting.

Imagination, Zack called it. He lacked creativity so his uncle said anyway. Not like Roxas ever had time for creativity as a kid considering he worked with a group that got whatever they wanted with manipulation and the use of the darkness. Would the creatures of darkness even listen to him now?

"Break time!" Zack said coming through the door like it was nothing. He carried with him a covered tray, but he could already smell the sandwiches and soup escaping the tin covering. "Come eat before you pass out."

"How long was I gone for this time?" Roxas asked heading over to him. Since being around him Roxas had grown to like his uncle. Zack liked to talk, especially about life here in the palace. He liked to do it while Roxas trained which had started out as a nuisance at first. Now, it was something he looked forward to. He liked hearing about his parents when they were younger or how Cloud used to help his father sneak out of the palace when he didn't want to do paperwork only to be caught by a brooding Auron. They sounded so happy. It made him feel warm inside.

"Ta da!" Zack smiled and lifted the cover off the food. "Chicken sandwiches and chicken soup."

"…Why so much chicken?" Roxas asked looking up at him.

"Why not?" Zack grinned at him. He felt like he was talking to Sora the way his young brother seemed to make everyone feel better. "By the way." Zack glanced away from him looking at a particular area in the room. "Have you noticed anything strange in this room?"

Roxas looked up at him, cheeks filled with food before he swallowed hard to clear his mouth for speech. "Come to think of it, I keep seeing a spark of light every so often."

"Good…you're almost ready then." Roxas stared at him waiting for an explanation, but Zack just smiled and moved on to a new subject. "So what's something new that you've learned?"

Roxas quickly finished slurping on the soup and used his shirt to wipe his mouth clean before standing. "I've been trying a lot of things." He held out his hands, the keyblades appearing in both of them. He was just accustomed to using two, ever since being in the Organization. "With two, there's a lot of options open to me." The blades glowing starting to change shapes. One of them ended out sporting small wheels of all kinds and designs on it. They spin just like real wheels and Roxas didn't doubt that if he laid it on the ground, it would move. He'd partially made it for that reason, after all. The other keyblade had the handle that was designed as a wheel. It didn't spin but was merely cosmetic. Colors of white and black were here and there organized in tight checker board squares that every occasionally were interrupted by a single red square.

His clothes changed as well. Actually, it was more that accessories had been added. He had red tinted eye shields on now that looked more like a visor that covered his eyes. A small, cloak covered one shoulder, red on the outside and black underneath. His hair even seemed firmer and to stick up more as if wind were hitting it. Two small wings of light stuck out from the back side of his shoes hovering by his feet. They shifted quickly with each movement of his feet. The same but bigger was at his back at each shoulder blade. The feathers of the wings shifted constantly in quick twitchy movements that went unnoticed by the boy that owned them. At the sole of his sheets, small wheels had formed glowing brightly.

"It looks like it's made to fly," Zack said tilting his head and observing the wings.

"They're not," Roxas said as he lifted up the visor. "They help me to glide." He smiled. "I have to be faster. I need to know where my enemy is before they get there." He remembered how fast Xehanort was, how he'd been unable to move himself and how frustrated it had made him. He needed to be faster than him. "This ensemble is called Quick Shot for a reason."

"So…is the visor for show?"

"Hm?" Roxas reached up touching it almost forgetting it was there as it felt natural to wear it. "No, it actually feeds information to me."

"Feeds it how?" Roxas took the visor off and handed it to Zack watching his uncle put it on. He looked funny wearing it, actually. "Ah so it gives you information on the actual lens. Impressive…why didn't I think of that?" Roxas felt himself flush at the praise his uncle gave him. With this, Xehanort wouldn't be able to hide anything from him, including his strengths, his weakness, and the overall percentage of winning against Roxas. "Huh…what's this now?"

"Hm?" Roxas tilted his head. "What is it?"

"Check over in the corner there." He handed the visor back and Roxas looked up at him curiously before putting it on anxiously. There, he saw the quick slash of the light he'd seen before. He was about to look and ask his uncle before his eyes caught sight of the word "processing" blinking on his lenses. His eyes narrowed as he looked up at the corner again. The word on the lenses changed to "loading," and right before his eyes he started to see the spark of light taking shape. He saw it clearly and was surprised he didn't pass out.

"Sora?" Sure enough, he saw his brother's body being outlined and getting more visible by the minute. He saw his brother look over at him and looked away back up at his uncle to see if he saw the same thing. Considering where he was staring it was obvious that he did. The strange thing was that he didn't look surprised at all.

He turned to look again but his eyes caught sight of something else. Roxas stared at the figure, feeling familiarity even if he didn't remember meeting the man. The man had walked over to Sora and was talking with him saying something Roxas couldn't hear. He didn't think they were ghost. In his opinion, ghost would never be so animated. Was this what Sora saw the day of the festival?

"You see them, right?" Zack asked.

"Yeah…" Roxas didn't turn his eyes away like he was afraid of the image disappearing. "How am I seeing this?"

"The light…your light," Zack corrected. "And your heart's desire."

Roxas swallowed. "So are they dead?" He'd like to think they weren't. The thought saddened him. Then he noticed Sora looking at him.

"No but they are currently without bodies." Then Zack rested a hand on his shoulder. "Try talking to him."

"How?" Roxas did look at him then. Zack's form was that of a red tinted man through his visor. It scanned him pulling up his name, age, and miscellaneous information about him including his favorite foods. Zack rested an open palm on Roxas's chest and the young boy looked down at it sure he felt warmed flowing inside him.

"Use the light of your heart," his uncle said.

"The light of my heart?" Roxas frowned then looked over at Sora who was outright staring now, the adorable pout on his lips that could only belong to his twin brother.

"Think about the person you want to talk to then send your light out to them." He barely understood what that meant. But he stared at his brother, the desire to talk to him again and see him alive overwhelming. He needed to know that Sora was ok.

Roxas took a deep breath then mentally reached deep into his heart pulling forth the light and sending it towards Sora with a simple, "_Sora, can you hear me?"_ He was a little surprised to hear, "_Roxas, is that you?_" in response. He heard it not necessarily with his ears but with his heart.

"_So that is you…" _The words came out mentally but physically he breathed a sigh of relief.

"_You can see me?"_

"_Yeah…can you?"_

"_Sorta…you're really just a shadow…" _He didn't really know what the other meant by that. Sora looked at Tsunami and the two exchanged words Roxas couldn't hear before Sora started to walk towards him.

"_Is that…?"_

"_Our dad?" _Sora finished for him and looked back at Tsunami before nodding his head. "_Yeah, it is." _Sora smiled fondly as he stopped in front of Roxas. "_He's wicked cool." _Sora looked past him and Roxas already knew where he was looking. "_So…who's that?"_

"_Our uncle." _Roxas's smile resembled Sora's at that moment when he looked back at Zack who gave him thumbs up. _"He's wicked cool too."_

"_Awesome._" Sora looked about to give him a high five but hesitated before lowering his hand. That's right…if he's a ghost, it'd be useless trying to maintain physical contact with someone like Roxas. _"Ansem's here too," _Sora said before he frowned. "_Well…he is but he couldn't come in." _Roxas blinked. So even spirits couldn't come in. He didn't really know Ansem so he had no emotional attachments at all. But he knew he was Riku's grandfather and Kairi's granduncle.

Sora explained a lot of things to him, about why Tsunami and Ansem were there, about how they weren't dead and how Xehanort was holding their bodies' hostage. While Sora spoke, Roxas listened carefully and when it was his turn to explain, Sora took it all in. Between the two of them they gained a lot of knowledge. He'd almost forgotten the other two men were in the same room.

He didn't know what made him do it but he reached out to rub Sora's hair. It didn't register at first when he felt the soft brush of hair against his fingers but he noticed it when he thought about the fact that he could see through Sora. His twin apparently noticed it instantly because he looked up at him in shock and confusion.

"_You can touch me?"_

Roxas blinked and withdrew his hand slowly. How had he been able to…? He looked at Tsunami and tried talking to him, but none of his words got through. It confused him and he turned quickly too look at Zack.

"How come I can't talk to Tsunami?" He asked looking distraught. He'd wanted to at least hear his father's voice once, even if it was through mental means.

"When you try to talk to others, it also depends on the strength of your bond to each other." He smiled at bit. "I'm barely able to hear some of the faint words he says to me not to mention he and Sora are little more than outlines to me." Roxas glanced down at that. So that meant he couldn't even fully see his own brother. "Anyway," Zack continued. "Did something happen? You seemed kind of shocked just a moment ago."

"I…" Roxas bit his lips slightly thinking. "I just touched Sora…" Zack's eyes opened a little wider in surprise and Roxas took it to mean that this wasn't normal. Was talking to ghost like people even considered normal?

His uncle reached out towards Sora then to touch him, but his hand went right through him instead. Roxas frowned and reached out again, touching his brother as easily as he touched is uncle, and lifted his hand up by the wrist.

"That's…that's great!" Zack yelled out. "This is perfect! If you're able to touch then…training should really be more effective now!"

"Huh?" Roxas blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"It means the two of you need to stay here and train while I talk to Mickey," Zack said starting his way to the door. "I'm also thinking of a way to get Sora back into his body if possible."

"H-Hey, where are you going?"

"Just out," he said throwing a hand over his shoulder. "You two just keep training. I'll be back in no time." And the door closed up behind him leaving the two, correction, three people there to stare after him. Tsunami seemed to have an amused look on his face but it wasn't like Roxas could ask him what he was thinking.

"Zack said we should start training together. He said that he was going to go talk to Mickey and that he has an idea about how to get you back in your body."

"_We should be fine for right now."_

"Yeah," Roxas agreed with a smile. "We should be." He walked away a little bit before he turned around and pulled his keyblade out and held it up looking at Sora. "So, let's get this training match going so we can get out of here faster." Sora didn't even hesitate pulling out his own keyblade and getting ready to spar. They spent what felt like forever training. It was hard to say with the concept of time missing from this place.

He was honestly good and tired by the time that Zack had returned, not looking the least bit happy. It stopped the two of them from training, Roxas panting hard as he looked over at Zack. Sora didn't even look tired. That was to be expected from someone that looked like a ghost.

"Something up?" Roxas asked Zack when his uncle hadn't said anything. His uncle only wiggled his fingers in a follow me motion before he turned leaving from the place and leaving the two brothers looking at each other in confusion.

"Leon's been kidnapped," he said as he heading out expecting to be followed. "We have to get Sora back into his body as soon as possible." Roxas frowned and relayed the message to Sora who stopped and yelled out a quick, "what!" Tsunami was behind him, however, and easily coaxed him into moving again. "Apparently we can't tell Cloud about this for a couple of reason, one of them obvious." He was referring to his relationship with Leon which was pretty much not a secret anymore. Like how everyone knew about Seifer and Tidus being together. "Xehanort wants both Leon and Cloud for something…but we don't know what that is. Either way it's not good. We need to keep Cloud away from Xehanort."

_"How are you going to avoid telling Cloud?"_ Sora asked through Roxas.

"Just leave that up to the adults," Zack said and smiled ruffling one head and going through the other unintentionally before clearing his throat. "Anyway, let's get you two ready. We'll be using those necklaces as amplifiers to draw out all of Sora's light and reconnect him with his body." Zack smiled at Sora. "Your little friend doesn't realize that she's made some really powerful tools that are going to be very useful to us."

When Sora looked at Roxas in confusion he smiled in return and told Sora what Zack said, only in a less wordy way.

"_How is Kairi doing by the way?"_

Roxas hesitated looking at him and frowned. "I'll…tell you after we're done getting you back in your body." Sora blinked his eyes a couple of times then nodded in agreement. He really didn't want to get his brother freaked out and worried right before he was going to use his light to return to himself. Kairi was taking what happened to Sora a little hard. The only thing they could do for her was to protect her and keep her going. But of course if she could see Sora up and walking again, things could change.

That didn't stop him worrying about how Kairi had gotten taken over by Xehanort in the first place. Zack opened the door to Sora's room and the two brothers took a deep breath and held hands before following him inside. They didn't know if Zack's plan would succeed or not. All they could do now was hope.

TBC…..

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Loooooong delay. I apologize. X.x Between Korean dramas, and having a constant cough these past three weeks, I haven't been focusing like I should. If something sounds confusing in the latest three chapters, it just means I was on the cough syrup from hell that makes you sleepy and nauseous to the stomach. Blah x.x don't like the feeling of a twisted stomach or being high on medication…hate meds. Anyways, hope you enjoyed.


	53. Princely Garbs 53

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Argh all these songs stuck in my head now! But they're good songs so that's ok. And yay for my new separators if they are working like I hope they are. x.x

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Princely Garbs 53

Before Zack had went back with the news of Leon's kidnapping to Sora and Roxas, he was talking with Mickey and Seifer about what had happened on the mission. They hadn't found Xehanort's location. Hadn't even come close. Instead, Xehanort had come to find them looking for two unique people with very unique powers. He'd obviously accomplished one of his goals since Leon was now a missing person.

"So…that's what happened," Zack said sighing as he looked over at the small mouse to gauge his reaction. He seemed to be thinking the same way about the information Seifer just told them. They needed to find a way to keep this from Cloud. If the blond found out about the fact that Leon had been taken, he'd do everything in his power to go after him. If that was what Xehanort was expecting to happen, then they had to do everything they could to stop it.

"So what's the plan?" Seifer asked, looking between the two men. "He's eventually going to ask where Leon is. We'll have to say something to him."

"...Magic Kingdom," Mickey said in his high pitched voice then looked up after he'd said the words. "We'll tell him that Leon's gone to Magic Kingdom to take care of some things for me."

"I think that should work," Zack said in agreement and reached up rubbing at his chin. "Still, I wonder what Xehanort wants with Cloud."

"Nothing good obviously," Seifer said then snorted as he headed for the door. The kid was always so quick to try and run away. In some ways he sort of reminded him of Cloud but with a little bit more impatience.

"Ah before you leave," Zack said causing Seifer to stop in place. There was something else bothering him, something that involved the dark spot on his neck. He hadn't had that mark before he left and it didn't look like a normal scratch. So where had something like that come from? "Did anything else happen?"

He saw the younger male's shoulders tense up and knew he was dead on. Seifer had told them about how both Zexion and Xaldin had been controlled. He'd told them about Xehanort and the mysterious hooded person with him and how Leon had been controlled and kidnapped. But he knew Xehanort enough to know he wouldn't have let Seifer go without some kind of mark on him. He especially didn't like how the dark spot seemed to get darker the longer he stared at it.

"Nothing you guys need to be worrying about," Seifer said looking at them over his shoulder. Zack nodded his head as he walked over to him and reached out resting a hand on the young man's shoulder. He felt the other's tenseness through his fingers but he didn't relent, instead gripping hold a little tighter.

"There's a saying someone once told to me," Zack said tilting his head back and staring up at the ceiling. "Something about pride getting in the way of ones best intentions. Pride," he said then gave pause as he looked down at the watchful eyes, "can cloud one's judgment." He laughed then letting go of the shoulder. "Not that I'm saying you shouldn't have any pride but…argh what is it I'm trying to say!"

Zack rubbed at his hair with both hands thinking before the light bulb came on in his head and he looked at Seifer confidently. "Don't let your pride get in the way of asking for help," he said and beamed. "Because there's no shame in being helped by your friends, just like there's no shame in helping a friend in need." Seifer just stared at him and he cleared his throat stepping back. "Just remember that constantly relying on your pride might make you lose something important to you."

"Yeah, sure. I'll keep that in mind," Seifer left them there, leaving the room as if he'd never been there.

Zack sighed then smiled a bit as he turned around finding Mickey looking at him with a sort of strange look on his face. He found himself chuckling anxiously as he walked back over taking a seat at one of the chairs before the fireplace. This was Zack's old room before the whole being king thing came around. So he felt most comfortable talking about stuff here and just thinking in general. He also had a few hidden escape routes here too if he needed to get away quickly.

"You look like you want to say something," Zack said looking down at his old friend. He could literally sit the king in his lap without a problem for the size he was. But Zack knew how strong this little mouse could be from personal experience. Dare he say he got his fair share of defeat thanks to the training he received from the old mouse? How old was Mickey anyway? He looked the same as when Zack had been a kid.

Mickey seemed to hesitate, opening his mouth and closing it again. Nothing was really betrayed by his facial expression though. Nothing a normal person could see anyway. They were kings, they were good at hiding emotions to protect the peace, including to other kings. "Nothing...just that those words just now-"

"-Made it sound like something happened to me?" Zack interrupted then shook his head with a smile as he saw the mousey king nod his head. "I know how much trouble pride can cause someone."

"Because you had that problem before, correct?"

"…." Zack's lips lifted in a rueful smile as he gave a slight nod. "Yeah…because of my pride…my foolishness, I lost a lot of things important to me, including the one I was trying to save to begin with. Because my pride told me not to ask for help, told me I could do everything by myself. My pride is the reason why we're in this situation from the start."

"No." Mickey walked over to him and rested his hand on his knee looking up at him. "Xehanort is the reason we're in this situation. You have no one to blame for this but him." Zack stared down at him. The words ebbed some of the worry in his heart, enough that he could smile genuinely at least.

He cleared his throat then, rubbing behind his neck as he looked towards the door Seifer left out of. "So…about that one there…"

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At the words of Seifer's return, Tidus had excused himself from the courtyard moving quickly to where Seifer was. At the moment, he was meeting with King Mickey and King Zack privately. Tidus planned to meet him as soon as he came out. The others weren't with him this time. He was going alone.

He waited sitting down beside the door looking up at the two recently hired guards, aka Luxord and Xigbar, the latter chattering while the other appeared to be listening while not listening. Neither paid much attention to him even though Tidus was almost certain they were still watching him. They knew why he was here. Probably everyone in the palace knew. Tidus had a buttery tongue afterall.

So when the door finally did open close to an hour later, Tidus perked up like a happy puppy waiting for his master to come home. Seifer stepped out and looked shocked to see Tidus there.

"Seifer!" Tidus jumped up quickly. "Seifer, I-"

"What are you doing here?" The words didn't sound happy. He looked frustrated, angry. Honestly, he looked completely unapproachable. Tidus was at a loss of words staring at Seifer, only briefly looking to the hand resting over the older boy's neck. Did he get hurt?

"Seifer…" He moved himself closer, forcing his body to drag his legs forward. The other was avoiding his eyes now and Tidus found his teeth biting his lips as he reached out to touch the hand. "D-did something happen?" When he came close to touching the hand, Seifer seemed to flinch before smacking the hand away.

"Don't touch me," Seifer said to him. "Don't even come near me. You're a nuisance." He seemed to hesitate a moment before he moved brushing past Tidus roughly. Tidus didn't even bother to look back, instead staring at the wall with more than a little bit of shock. He didn't know what just happened. He couldn't even process the actions in his thought.

He could feel the eyes of Xigbar and Luxord on him but he didn't say anything to them, walking away down the hallway. Seifer hadn't been like this before he left. Why…why was he acting like this now? Tidus felt like his heart wanted to be wrenched from his chest but his mind focused on Seifer's actions. He inspected them, remembered Seifer's hesitation, the lack of eye contact, the hand on his neck. What was Seifer hiding from him?

Pain in his chest turned to frustration as he turned around walking past the two guards that were probably looking at him like he was crazy. He didn't care though, he was going to find out why Seifer was acting like this. What made him think he deserved to be treated like he was nothing just because he wanted to hide something? He saw Seifer's back up ahead and took cover hiding behind a large flowerpot in the hallway peeping around it.

Seifer was standing there, his hand still holding his neck. He grunted out and leaned against the wall beside him panting heavily. Tidus bit his lip, clutching the corner of the wall beside him. He was about to rush out to see if Seifer was ok when he paused hearing the other talking. There wasn't anyone there for him to talk to though.

"Stupid…get out of my head!" Seifer yelled out glaring at nothing. There was no response but Seifer continued to talk anyway. "You're starting to get on my nerves. Whatever it is you have planned for me to do, I ain't gonna do it. So you might as well quit being annoyi-Nnnngh!" Both hands went up clutching at his head.

"Seifer!" Tidus didn't hesitate any more, running around the corner to get to Seifer. He dropped down when Seifer went to his knees and reached out grabbing hold of his shoulders shaking him slightly. "Seifer, what's the matter!"

"Idiot…" Seifer looked up at him past his fingers, his eyes looking pained even as Tidus saw darkness crawling along the skin of his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Seifer…what is…" He should have been recoiling away but instead he reached out towards that darkness.

"Stop that!" Seifer smacked his hand away roughly glaring at him. "Didn't I tell you to stay away? Are you too dumb to listen to that too?"

"Why should I listen to you?" Tidus said glaring at him in return. He was already tired of this, of Seifer pushing him away. "Just because you're a year old and you're bigger and probably only a little stronger doesn't make you my boss." Tidus stuck his tongue out at him for extra effect even though it only made him look even more like a two year old. Not that he'd admit that to himself.

"Idiot…gah…" The darkness was slowly being drawn back into the scratch on his neck. Tidus could easily see the wound now that didn't bleed but still looked very fresh. He didn't understand where this darkness was coming from though or why he felt drawn to it whenever he looked at it.

"…So what happened?" Tidus asked again staring at Seifer, the other too put out of it to actually avoid his eyes this time.

"Nothing," Seifer said defiantly. He smacked the hand away again when Tidus tried to reach for the wound. "And quit trying to touch it, stupid."

"Why?" Tidus poked his lips out still eyeing the cut. "What's wrong with touching it?"

"….." Seifer didn't say anything, instead reaching out and gently resting a hand on Tidus's head. "If…I do anything stupid or I start acting really strange…you need to get as far away from me as possible, you got that?" When Tidus didn't respond, Seifer rapped his knuckles across the top of his head.

"Ow!" Tidus reached up rubbing it and frowned at the older boy. Seifer didn't budge this time even with Tidus looking up at him with his lips poking out. "Just because you tell me that doesn't mean I'll do it. I'm not just going to leave my boyfriend behind to suffer, you dummy."

"…" Seifer chuckled slightly though his eyes seemed to distance themselves from him. "Guess I am the dummy this time," he mumbled under his breath just barely loud enough for Tidus to hear it. He ignored the muddled look on Tidus's face at the words though. "Fine. Then you better take responsibility for it." Tidus grinned at that, and reached out hugging Seifer tightly. He didn't know what was wrong with Seifer but he was determined to find out.

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TBC….

And so ends another chapter. One more upload to go for today!


	54. Princely Garbs 54

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: This'll be the last upload for today. And then I'll be trying out some Resident Evil 6 to hopefully play online with my best friend. Also will be working on and trying to get part 55 out tomorrow...but I completely don't guarentee it coming out tomorrow. Still working out where I want to go with that chapter. Getting down to crunch time after. Hehe.

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Princely Garbs 54

"Is this really going to work?" Sora frowned at Roxas's words staring down at his prone body on the bed. Roxas stood next to him as nothing more than a shadow with no facial features. Their uncle stood on the other side of the bed also nothing more than a shadow to him. It sucked that he couldn't talk to him directly but Roxas was kind enough to relay messages to him.

"What other option do we have?" Roxas replied. His brother reached down slipping one of the shelled necklaces around the neck of Sora's body while he did the same to himself with the second necklace. They had a plan, or Zack had a plan to return Sora to his body. It involved the same technique Xehanort had used to remove Sora in the first place. They were going to use the necklaces as amplifiers and use the light sort of as a suction to pull Sora back inside.

Sora sighed and looked over at Roxas before giving a brief nod. "Ok. I'm ready." He called forth his keyblade pointing it at his body while his brother mimicked his actions. The light glowed brightly around them, almost blindingly so that Sora found himself wanting to look away a couple of times. He didn't though, mostly for the sake of not losing his concentration. He felt the glow of the light surrounding him before connecting a thin thread of light to his body. He felt the light pulling at him, tugging him closer and he followed obediently.

A glance over showed his father looking at him and smiling. Sora reached out to him, wanting to take him back with him. But his father just continued to smile as he shook his head at him.

"Until I can return to my body," his father was saying, "this is where I belong." Sora lowered his hand before giving his kin a smile of his own. His father…he was everything he'd ever expected in a dad, no, even better. He was strong, powerful and it was obvious why people would have followed him. He hated the idea of having to leave him in this backwards, dead side of the world where everything seemed so dark.

"We'll save you," Sora said nodding his head confidently. "We're going to save everyone. So just wait a little bit longer." Tsunami laughed reaching up and ruffling Sora's hair. King Ansem, who stood all but forgotten by the door to the bedroom, nodded his head in approval. When the young male looked over at him and gave him thumbs up, he returned the action with the barest of a smile.

"Go safely," Ansem said clearing his throat a bit. "Bring Riku back to us."

"I will," Sora replied resting his hand over his chest with a promise. "I'll see you guys soon." And then it felt like his body disappeared as everything seemed to suddenly go black.

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When Roxas saw his brother's spirit disappear, he panicked for a moment. The flow of light stopped threading from him as he looked up at Zack. "Did it work?" His uncle didn't even have time to confirm it as Sora moved, shifting slightly and groaning a bit as he sat up. It reminded Roxas of that one story book he'd read once during a mission about a sleeping beauty or something. But in this case, it didn't take a handsome prince to wake him up. Needless to say, he wasn't much for fairytales at the time. Especially, the types with happy endings.

"Sora, you ok?"

His young twin brother looked up at him then looked around judging out where he was probably before he finally nodded. He turned his body trying to slide out of the bed but when he tried to stand, Roxas was quick to move to his side to help him.

"Whoa, careful," his uncle said standing on Sora's other side. Roxas blinked staring up at him. When did he move? Wasn't he just on the other side of the bed? "Your body hasn't had much chance to move around. It needs to get its energy back up."

"Meaning you need to eat and rest up," Roxas said when the young boy looked over at him in confusion.

"But we don't have time to rest," Sora said trying to take another step. "We have to save Riku and Leon and our everyone."

"The airship won't be ready for a couple more days," Zack said. "Cid's moving as fast as he can with all the help he's getting right now. But he's doing his best to make sure the airship can get us there and back safely without the darkness invading it."

Roxas grabbed Sora's arm moving it to drape around his neck to help him support Sora's weight. "For now let's let everyone know you're ok."

"We'll also talk with Mickey about making a plan and setting up a team to go out." It sounded like a good enough plan to Roxas. And with the people they had here now, he knew they could come up with a good idea in no time.

"…How is Kairi doing?" Sora asked him and Roxas found himself frowning a bit thinking about the girl. He didn't like how depressed she'd been looking the past few days since Sora went into his coma like state. She felt mostly responsible and had barely talked to any of her friends, including Selphie.

"She's…taking it a bit hard," Roxas said glancing at him. "She blames herself for what happened to you guys. She doesn't seem to hang around anyone anymore even though we've told her it's not her fault. She thinks that because she made the necklaces…"

"…." Sora gently pushed himself away to stand on his own two feet. He wobbled slightly but when Roxas made to hold him steady, his quickly held up a hand to stop him. "Sorry, Roxas. I just…I need to go talk to her." Roxas stared at him for a moment, taking in the look on his face. He was resolved to this decision. "She's important to me," Sora said looking at him and smiling. "Just like how you and Riku, how every one of our friends are important to me."

Roxas stared at him then smiled softly. "Then take care of things there. She's too cute to be depressed like that." Sora laughed at him in response and before Roxas knew what was happen he felt himself being pulled into a hug.

"Thank you," Sora said into his neck, smiling. Roxas could tell he was smiling because he could feel the pull of lips against his skin. "Thank you for being there for me." He pulled back smiling at him and the next thing he knew the young twin was heading for the door. He found himself staring at the door, shocked, confused. He'd never been thanked before…but if the warmth he felt in his heart was normal then he really liked the feeling.

"Well then," Zack said stopping beside him and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Shall we go talk to Mickey?" Roxas looked up at him and nodded. That would be the best option right now. He'd go see Mickey first then check and see if Cid needed any more hands to help him on the airship. He also wanted to go see Axel as soon as possible. The thought made his heart beat faster in excitement and he smiled heading out of the room with his uncle.

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"Kairi?" Sora paused outside her temporary room, knocking softly. He didn't get a response in return and looked down at the door handle. He needed to make sure she wasn't in her room before moving on. He was tempted to just open the door but what if she wasn't prepared to see him? She was a girl, after all. Swallowing, he knocked louder on the door. "Kairi, open up! It's Sora!" Still nothing.

He was getting ready to just open it but the door cracked open just as his hand reached down. A couple of blue eyes were staring at him in shock through the crack before the door opened all the way and he had an armful of girl in his arms.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled out hugging him tightly. "Sora, you're ok!"

"K…K-Kairi…" He breathed a little easier when she relaxed her hold on him. How was a girl so small so strong? When she leaned back he saw the small tears in her eyes and his own softened as he used a knuckle to wipe the tears away.

"I thought…you wouldn't wake up." Whatever emotions she had bottled up came out in an instance then as she cried into his shirt. "I thought you would die. Sora, I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"It's not your fault," Sora said and used his shirt to wipe the tears away. "You were being manipulated by Xehanort. It could have happened to any one of us." He thought about the fact that it had even happened to him, that right now Riku was gone because of Xehanort using them. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise."

Kairi stared up at him before hands touched the necklace around his neck, the sea shell necklaces she'd made herself. Her hands trembled before she gripped hold of it. "Sora…you can't wear this."

"Huh?" Sora blinked at her in confusion. "Why not? I like it." He pouted a little bit.

"It's dangerous," Kairi said and reached around him to take it off. "If…if that ends up happening again because of this…."

"It's going to be fine," he said grabbing both her wrist and pulling them back with a smile. "Trust me. These necklaces are actually a lot of help."

"…t-they help?"

"Yeah," Sora nodded then gave her a cheeky grin. "Though I'll have to learn how to use it right but they make me stronger." He saw her staring up at him, saw her cheeks heat up and he couldn't help smiling and ruffling her hair. He knew her feelings for him now. The time when Xehanort was manipulating them…he found out. But it didn't change his feelings for the currently missing Riku. That didn't mean he didn't find her special. Riku, Kairi, Roxas…these were the three most important people to him. He wanted to protect them all.

Kairi left quickly then confusing Sora as she ran back into the room searching around for a moment. He tilted his head coming in slowly as he tried to see what she was doing. Did she lose something? Maybe he should help her find it. He started to open his mouth to offer his help but she was in front of him again, smiling up at him.

"Here. Close your eyes and hold out your hand," she said beaming up at him. Sora blinked then shut his eyes. He felt something being placed in his hand. "Now open your eyes."

Sora opened his eyes looking down at what lay in his hand before looking up at her again. "Kairi…what…?"

"It's a gift," Kairi said smiling at him. "It's for you and Riku."

"F-For...both of us?" At her nod he looked down again at the two star shaped rings. He couldn't imagine the time needed to make these but it had to be longer than a couple of nights. At least a few weeks and months for an unskilled person. "What does it mean?" He looked up at her.

"I-It's…" she took a deep breath to steady herself. "Remember the paopu fruits in the trees back at Radiant Garden?" She waited until she saw Sora nod his head before she continued, picking up one of the rings and turning it around in her hand. "There was a rumor around Radiant Garden once about the paopu fruit. Have you heard it?" Again she waited until she saw him shake his head to continue. "They say…that if you share a paopu fruit with someone that you love…that those two would always be together."

"Can a fruit really do that?"

"I don't know…" Kairi said truthfully as she placed it back down in his hand. "No one's really ever tried it." She looked up at him then. "After all, the paopu fruit were considered to be poisonous, remember?" He did at least remember that part. They looked delicious though but no one dared to try to eat them. Apparently there were rumors of people many many years ago dying from eating them. But he'd seen a few animals eat them. None ate the skin though, they always managed to bust the fruits open before devouring the insides.

"So you made these thinking about the paopu fruit?" Sora asked returning his attention to her. "For…me and Riku?"

She nodded her head though she glanced away briefly. "You have to give him this ring and bring him back, Sora," she said looking at him again. "We can't let that guy keep controlling him." Sora nodded his head and smiled as she dropped the ring back into his hand, closing his fingers over them.

"I promise," Sora said giving her a quick hug. "We'll be leaving in a couple of days. I need to get my body trained up and fully healed by then. But I'll bring him back, I promise." He turned heading for the door then, shoulders set straight with the weight of his friends there. They were counting on him, but he wasn't going to let them down. Even though his body had felt weak moments earlier, he felt strong and full of energy now. He didn't really get it but he wasn't complaining. "I'll see you later, Kairi!" He left, heading to the kitchen to get so much needed food before he could start up training again.

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TBC…

And that be it for now! Hope you enjoyed the updates today and stuff. And stuff. And stuff. Whoo! Not drugged up by cough syrup yet x.x weird stuff that is. Doesn't seem to help coughs though...ah well.


	55. Princely Garbs 55

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Um...it's tomorrow? Oh so it's like...two weeks later? But it's out! So um...yay!

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Princely Garbs 55

Two days went by quickly. Sora was back up to date with both his speed and with everything going on around them. Through a couple of meets with both kings, they had come up with a decision on who would be going with them to get Riku back. All of the organization and anyone who'd been controlled by the darkness in some way would be staying back to protect the people at Kingdom Hearts. It didn't leave them many people to work with.

Of those that were going that left them with eight people…well ten if you included the fact that Tsunami and Ansem would be going as well even though only three of them knew about it. It may have been a good thing that Auron wasn't going since he'd be able to keep an eye on Cloud to keep him in place. He was apparently determined to go to protect Sora and Roxas as well to help rescue Riku.

So, including Tsunami and Ansem, Sora, Roxas, and Zack were going. Mickey was coming along with Donald and Goofy. And with Merlin and Cid coming along to man the Highwind II, that was everyone. Sora was ready though, he was ready to take Xehanort down and bring Riku back to him. He looked down at the two rings on his finger, twisting them slightly as he half listened to what Mickey was telling the others, already knowing most of it.

He was going through in his mind on how he was going to wake Riku up from this horrible nightmare. He hadn't been aware of Xehanort when he'd been rejected from his body other than the moment that Kairi had been taken over. He was also confused still by how Kairi was able to stay in her body while Sora had been pushed from his own. He figured maybe it was because it was only temporary even though his own situation had been temporary as well. Maybe it had to do with the lack of darkness in Sora's body, but he really wasn't sure.

"Ya ready to go, kid?" Cid asked roughly throwing an arm around his shoulder as he took a puff of his cig. "We got some rescuing to take care of."

"Yeah," Sora said smiling despite himself. He couldn't wait to be reunited with Riku again. He'd ignore how the thought made him feel nervous at the same time. He also ignored how the thought of Xehanort playing with Riku's mind and body sent a feeling of rage coursing through his veins.

"Hmm…" Cid chewed on his cig slightly before he dug his knuckles into the top of Sora's head roughly.

"Ow!"

"You're not showing enough enthusiasm, kid."

"Yes sir!" Sora yelled out then did a salute when it looked like Cid was going to do it again.

"That's more like it." Despite the gruffness, Cid was actually smiling as he looked at him. "That's the sort of spirit you need to have when you bring that knuckle head to his sense. And you guys," Cid continued glaring at the few Organization members that weren't too happy about not being able to help. "Quit moping around and go do something useful."

"What's the point?" Marluxia said folding his arms. Though he didn't show the frustration on his face, it was obvious in his eyes and posture. But Sora could sympathize with him. He understood that feeling of thinking one was useless when it mattered. "It's not like anyone trust us."

"Well didn't you say you were going to change that?" Roxas asked glancing at Axel as he said it and having the red head smile back at him.

Marluxia hesitated before he nodded his head. "Yeah…"

"Well this is the perfect time to do it. To protecting everyone when things get dangerous." Marluxia seemed reluctant to agree but Demyx jumped in throwing his arms around Marluxia's neck and leaning on him heavily.

"We can handle this," he said smiling as cheerfully as ever even as Marluxia was busy trying to push him off. "Just let us handle this. You guys go take care of the big stuff."

"We're counting on you," Sora said holding up a fist. "Keep everyone safe while we're gone. We don't know what to expect."

"You…you guys take care of things too, or else." Larxene threatened though a rare smile broke out on her lips.

"We will." Sora said smiling in return just as Zack ruffled his hair.

"You ready to go get your friend back?" Zack asked him. He nodded his head sobering up a bit as he looked off ahead of him. Riku…what was going on with him right now? Was he trapped inside his body with no way to escape or was he wandering around like how Tsunami was doing now. Even now he was able to see his father faintly and, surprisingly he was able to hear his voice if he concentrated.

The group didn't take long to get prepared and settle their goodbyes to the other half before they were on their way heading into the darkness. Sora stayed up in the cockpit with Cid and the others, staring through the glass window separating them from the outside elements. The small airship, as Cid liked to call it, was one of the few things that could actually fly thanks to Cid's mechanical abilities. Merlin did, however, was there to help if anything were to malfunction such as, say, the engine that was running the crazy thing.

Cloud hadn't looked happy to see them leave though if he knew about Leon's kidnapping it could have gotten worse. At least Sora could be reassured that Auron would keep watchful eye on him. He was certain Leon wouldn't want Cloud coming into this dangerous situation if he could avoid it. He wondered why Xehanort wanted to have Cloud there and what he planned to do with both Cloud and Leon.

"Heartless straight ahead," Cid said navigating the big steering wheel. He'd slowed the speed down easing closer to the darkness in front of them. The ship was quiet even with everyone spread out around the large cockpit watching out of the enormous windows. The small darkness detector on the dashboard beeped nonstop.

Then the first heartless flew toward them from the front and Sora held his breath in anticipation. The heartless, that Sora hadn't known could fly until now, hit against the anti-darkness shield before being pushed back. It hadn't made a sound at contact so if he hadn't been watching he would have missed it. A sort of static looking shield had come up blocking the heartless's impact and preventing the ship from being harmed. How Cid had managed to make something like this was beyond him.

"It worked!" Roxas yelled out despite himself. The two twins looked at each other and smiled with renewed confidence. They could do this. They could save everyone with the help of their friends.

"Of course it worked," Cid said though he seemed to be smirking and actually sounded a bit surprised himself. "A genius made it."

"A crazed genius but a genius," Merlin added in with an innocent smile. Honestly though, if you knew Merlin well you knew he wasn't as innocent as he put out there.

"Shut up ya damn magic man." Despite the words, they held no heat to them, which for Cid was saying much. "Let's go full speed then." Cid pulled back on the throttle shooting them forward fast enough to literally tear a path through the heartless around them. "Look for anything out of the ordinary." Sora looked at Roxas and nodded before running to one of the side windows looking out. It was sheer craziness how many heartless were down there. He'd never seen so many creatures of darkness before. The people of Kingdom Hearts would never stand a chance against them.

He found what he was looking for at the same time the darkness detector started beeping off the charts. Not that they would have missed the tall tower shooting from the ground to the sky. Heartless swarmed all around it. He could feel the darkness inside the tower pulling at him, darkness that felt all too familiar to him.

"That's it there," Sora said staring at the tower and placing his fingers against the cool glass staring out into the limitless void. "That's where Riku is."

"How do we get in?" Roxas asked moving to stand beside him staring out as well. "From the top maybe?"

"Yeah, looks like there's a small opening or a latch there." Sora looked around trying to find something. There literally were no windows or doors to lead into the tower except for on the very top where the opening stood all too inviting. It was probably there for Cloud but Xehanort would get a surprise visit from not only one king but two kings and two princes. "But how do we get down there?"

"You should just use the Parach-," Cid started but Roxas cut him off.

"No thanks."

Cid glared at them but when both boys shook their heads, he sighed. "Fine. Then we'll get a rope and you'll have to lower yourself down cause I ain't got any other options than what I damn well just gave you. And it wasn't a bad option, mind you," he added in quickly, chewing on the end of his cigarette.

"We'll I don't know about the rest of them," Roxas said. "But I'm going to just get down there on my own."

"That is a good idea," Sora said grinning at Roxas. "At least three of us can change the form of our light. I'm not sure if Mickey can do it?" He asked it more than stating it as he looked over at Mickey curiously.

"Don't worry about me," Mickey said smiling at them. "I don't actually have all the power that your family does when it comes to using the light to recreate things. But I think we can manage things here."

"Alright," Sora reached up resting his hand on Roxas's shoulder. "Let's go. When we get down there we'll clear an area for everyone to come down."

"Yeah," Cid said turning around to look at them. "Then the rest of you can use the Parachutes if ya ain't too chicken like these two."

"Uh…what exactly is a Parachute?" Zack asked drawing attention to himself with no regret.

"Protective Airship Release Apparatus Controlled Under Terrifying Emergencies," Roxas and Sora repeated in monotonous voices with perfect synchronizing. They managed to get the words out before Cid could even get anything past his open lips.

"Trust me," Roxas said giving them a serious look. "You don't want to use it."

"Unless you don't mind jumping out of an airship way up in the air and relying on a really big bedroom sheet to lower you to the ground."

"Hey, it got the two of you damn kids down perfectly," Cid said glaring at the two of them which went completely unnoticed.

"Yeah but that's just cause we got lucky enough not to go crashing into the ground and breaking every bone in our bodies."

"Or of coming down too fast and crushing our legs."

"But," Roxas said looking over at Zack and the others with perfect seriousness. "If you think you'll be lucky enough not to have that happen, you should be fine. Anyway, we're getting ready to head down." He turned tapping Sora's arm to tell him to come along completely ignoring the look on the other four faces. Sora, however, gave them a sympathetic look when he saw the way they were glancing around with completely unsure facial expressions, even Mickey. He understood the feeling, he'd felt the same way when he'd first heard it. But to be honestly, it wasn't as bad as the two of them made it out to seem. Didn't Roxas want to do it again last time?

"Just be sure to give a count of ten or twenty before you pull the string," Sora said offering a smile to them before he turned following after Roxas. The two of them went to the hanger where they'd first jumped out to save Leon when he'd been kidnapped by Sephiroth. Opening the hanger door brought in a rush of wind that almost blew the two boys of balance. They looked at each other at the same time, both tapping into their powers in perfect sequence. Roxas had on his new outfit, Quick Shot, while Sora's form was something a little more classic as the giant wings of pure light appeared from his back.

Both boys moved towards the edge and didn't hesitate as they jumped out in the direction of the tower's roof. Sora's wings expanded out wide helping him to glide through the air as only birds could do naturally. He glanced over seeing Roxas gliding beside him, the small light feathers stretched out to help him soar. Even though Sora couldn't see his eyes, he could tell the way Roxas stared straight ahead that he was reading about something on the tower.

"We should try landing with a light burst closer to the edge," Roxas said to him. No, he didn't use his actual voice but instead talked through the light into Sora's head. "That should eliminate most of the heartless on the rooftop and give the others enough time to come down."

Sora nodded at the words as the two got closer to the rooftop. They didn't slow themselves down until they were close to it, landing on the ground with a flash of light large and bright enough to almost cover the whole roof. It took a minute for the light to dissipate, but when it did Sora could see nothing left of the heartless. Apparently, the attack had been more powerful than he'd thought. It gave him confidence and made him feel strong enough that he could defeat Xehanort and bring Riku back.

It didn't take long for the others to come down, though none looked too pleased about the technique used to come down from the airship. Well, none except for Zack who took far too much pleasure into using the Parachute. Donald and Goofy did somehow manage to get their lines tangled and land on top of each other, but other than that no one was hurt. Somehow Mickey managed to still look cool even dangling from the air like a little toy doll by the strings. Once they'd gotten the two protectors lose from the strings, everyone stood up staring towards the door leading down into the tower's interior.

"Everyone ready?" Zack asked standing between his two nephews. When he glanced at Sora, the young male gave him a quick nod, all playfulness gone. It was time to get down to business. "No matter what happens, everyone needs to keep going. Even if one of us falls," he continued making sure to catch everyone's eyes when he said that. "Our top priority is to stop Xehanort no matter what. If he ends up taking us all out then everyone in all the worlds will be in danger of being eradicated."

For a brief moment Sora wondered what other worlds were out there besides theirs and Magic Kingdom. He'd never actually thought about the prospect of there being other worlds. How many other worlds were out there? How many of those worlds had to deal with the light and the darkness like they did?

"So we need to give our all from the start," Roxas said tilting his neck to the side. "We can handle this."

"Alright." Zack lifted his arm up into the air then brought it down fast pointing towards the entrance. "Let's rush in and put a stop to Xehanort's evil scheme!" No one hesitated at his words as everyone took off rushing for the door to begin their assault. There would be no more resting until Xehanort was finished. And if Sora had it his way, it'd be done by his hands.

TBC….

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Lol and so begins the assault of the um…Tower of Darkness…yeah that'll work! :D I should be posting up another chapter today I hope, it's only half finished at this point in time however with very little time for me since last week. Uh…doesn't help that Assassin's Creed 3 just came out which I'm completely addicted too even if I do keep falling asleep at weird moments and thus causing myself to get killed x.x I can't help it, it has a weird calming effect on me.


	56. Princely Garbs 56

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Because I finished both parts so yay!

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Princely Garbs 56

"Stop following me."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…Is there a reason why you're stalking me so much lately?"

"…." Smirk.

Cloud shook his head in annoyance staring up at Auron who, since Leon and the others had come back from looking for Xehanort, had been following him around the palace nonstop. It didn't matter where he went, Auron was there. Even when he went to use the restroom, the other was sitting outside the door waiting. When Cloud tried escaping out the bathroom window, somehow Auron was already there to catch him when his grip slipped and he fell. So he'd been a little thankful for that, but still this was just too much.

On top of that, Auron wasn't explaining a single thing to him. Not about why he was following him or why Leon had been sent on a special mission for the King of Magic Kingdom without giving Cloud a moment to see him. His instincts were still telling him something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out why. Ever since that stormy night he'd been having a bad inkling about things.

With Auron continuing to follow him, Cloud sighed and turned around starting to walk again. There was another thing he'd noticed. He'd been bumping into Seifer a lot more lately. Not just one or two times but what seemed like every ten minutes. Each time Seifer seemed startled to see him and seemed to make an attempt not to get near him.

Just like now as Cloud just bumped into him while heading to the kitchen for something to snack on.

"Is there something wrong?" Cloud asked him before Seifer has a chance to make an excuse and escape him. Hell even if Seifer had left, he would have followed him this time. He had a lot of questions for the younger male.

"What makes you think there's a problem?" Seifer responded defensively. When Seifer made to step around him, Cloud stepped in front of him to block his path. The other male frowned trying again but Cloud blocked his path once more. Behind him he could hear Auron chortling in amusement.

"There's an obvious problem if I can tell you're avoiding me," Cloud said trying to keep his frustration under control so he wouldn't strangle the annoying male. "Does it have anything to do with your last mission?"

"I told you it's nothing." Seifer tried again but Cloud stood directly in front of him spreading his arms out wide and stared at him hard. He had a bad feeling about this, had a feeling that everyone was hiding something from him. He knew it had to do with what he felt during the storm. He knew it had something to do with Leon. Otherwise they wouldn't be walking around him so tenderly. Even Auron was stepping stones carefully.

Leon didn't go to Magic Kingdom. Cloud knew because Leon wouldn't have left without tell him. Leon would have come to him to at least warn him that he'd be leaving or at least would have gotten word to him. But instead everyone that had gone with Leon was avoiding him. He couldn't even get close to Zexion or Xaldin without them appearing to just disappear. Now that he had one of those that accompanied Leon on the mission cornered he wasn't about to let them out of his sight without answers.

The problem was Auron was still there. And even if Seifer wouldn't be able to have patience long enough to deal with Cloud's pestering, Auron would. Auron could easily change the tide of the conversation. And this was a problem for Cloud who had never learned to overcome Auron's influences.

He needed to talk with Seifer alone…without Auron there at least. At best, he needed to get Seifer to slip and spill the rice before Auron could stop him.

"Look, I don't know why you keep on pestering me right now but I'm walking away." Seifer turned to do just that but Cloud reached out grabbing his arm.

"I can't let you leave until I get answers!" He yelled out, his voice sounding frantic to his ears. Seifer was staring at him like he'd grown another head. He sort of felt like he did anyway. He'd never expressed like this before, not since that one time when Leon had made him mad on Cid's ship. He cleared his throat starting to let go of Seifer's arm. "Sorry…I didn't mean-"

"Argh!" Seifer stumbled backwards so quickly Cloud stumbled off balance falling back into Auron's steadying hands as the arm was snatched from him. The soldier had his hand pressed tightly to his neck but Cloud could the darkness crawling along his skin. He didn't get the chance to see anything else because Auron stood in front of him so quickly that for a moment Cloud wondered if he was seeing things.

"Seifer!" He glanced around Auron at the younger male, eyes staring in shock when he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him.

"Run!" Seifer growled out. "Run, I can't…argh!" He held both hands to his head yelling out as more off the darkness covered his body.

"Seifer!" Cloud tried to get around Auron to get to his subordinate but Auron was blocking him with an arm keeping him from getting close. "Auron, move!"

"Cloud, listen. Just do as he says and get as far away from here as you can."

"I can't just leav-"

"Cloud, do as I said NOW!" The look on Auron's face and the one good eye staring at him and demanding obedience froze Cloud for a moment. He'd never seen that look on Auron's face, even when fighting off some of the strongest foes. It commanded Cloud to follow orders, to follow his first in command, his ex-leader whom he hadn't seen for years. He only gave a moment's hesitation before he nodded stiffly and turned running off.

He didn't know where he was running to or even why he was being forced to run. He also didn't know how the darkness had been invading Kingdom Hearts lately or how it was not affecting Seifer but then again it seemed that Xehanort had a way around things. Otherwise this mess wouldn't be happening now.

It was strange that the light didn't affect the darkness plaguing Seifer right now. A darkness that must have entered him when he was out on the mission with Leon? What happened out there? What was being kept from him? He hadn't even gotten the answers on that yet. At the moment that didn't matter. Right now he was worried about Seifer's wellbeing. Should he be running away like a little weakling or heading back to help Auron and try to pull Seifer way from the darkness?

A dark portal appeared in front of Cloud. He slid to a stop just as a hooded figure stepped out of it. Somehow the darkness of the hood made it hard for him to see the figure's face though he was able to see the lips. The figure was small, at least a foot and a half smaller than him and very feminine. In fact, the figure felt very familiar to him. The dark robes made him think of the Organization, but somehow this person didn't feel like any of them. Who was this?

It was obvious the figure was after him and he backed away slightly reaching back behind him to grab at his sword. He noticed something else as he stared at the figure, something like the gleam of metal around the figure's neck. A necklace perhaps?

"Who are you?" Cloud asked but received nothing in return. He frowned as the figure just stood there not even following Cloud as he continued backing away. He was so attentive on the figure in front of him that he didn't noticed the figure behind him until he bumped into him…or her by the feel of things.

He didn't even have time to turn and react as a cloth with a strange scent to it covered his nose. He tried to fight it but for some reason, at that moment, it seemed like something else gripped hold of his body keeping him from moving and pushing the other person from him. For a brief moment everything turned hazy. He felt sleepy and his eyes slipped shut for a moment before he blacked out, his sword clattering to the ground.

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He'd heard that Seifer was pretty damn good, but not to this extent. He'd heard from Leon in a very dry conversation that Seifer was still in a growing stage. That he was good but at the moment far from defeating Leon or Cloud. And yet this person right in front of him was actually providing him with a tough challenge. He'd be impressed if it was due boy himself. But Seifer wasn't this strong. At least, not how Leon made him out to be.

"Fight it," Auron demanded when Seifer paused again to hold his head. It didn't appear to be the same kind of body takeover seeing as Seifer seemed to be completely aware of what was going on, even though he couldn't seem to control himself.

"Don't you think I'm try-nngh!" Seifer paused holding his head again clamping his mouth shut. Every so often this would happen, where Seifer would gain control only to be pushed away by pain. Somehow this whole thing, minus the pain, reminded him of Cloud that time long ago when King Tsunami had been killed. He'd been under control…just like this…except Auron didn't remember seeing any marks of darkness on him or of him being aware of the controlled state he was in.

At the time he'd been so certain it was Sephiroth that was guiding him. Now he wasn't so sure. This was Xehanort's doing, however, this thing that was happening to Seifer now. He knew because Seifer had told them, to some extent, of what happened in their mission to the darkness. He'd mentioned how Xehanort, in the guise of Riku, had shown up with another hooded figure. Of course now, at least, it was obvious that Xehanort had done something to him. But why take over now?

Or why not take over both of them instead? He could have Cloud in his midst by now if he wanted to. Or was there another reason behind it? Maybe he was limited in how much he could do at one time in controlling the darkness? After all, Riku's darkness was probably a lot to handle at one time seeing as Riku had quite a bit of it under his control, or lack of control really.

Seifer collapsed to the ground suddenly, panting hard and holding his head between both his hands as he seemed to get himself together. He looked like he had control of himself now, letting go of the gunblade in his hand. His body didn't seem as tense as before but that didn't stop Auron from keeping his guard up. Then Seifer looked up at him with a look of relief and Auron felt himself relax a bit. He looked tired, but he appeared to move differently, more like his true self.

"You ok?"

"Y-Yeah…" Seifer said pushing himself to his feet carefully then wincing as he held a hand to his ear. The look on his face slowly changed from pain to a frown to a look of panic as he looked up at Auron. "They got him."

"….What?" Seifer pushed himself up to his feet only wobbling a moment to get his bearings straight.

"He said they got him!" Seifer yelled out running and pushing past Auron roughly. "Crap, how the hell did that happen?!"

"Are you saying they got Cloud!" Auron asked quickly following on his heels. They moved from hallway to hallway, not even sure if they were going the right way or not to try and find Cloud. At a four way juncture, Seifer was rubbing as his head in a stressed panic before he paused staring down one of the halls before rushing towards the end. Auron stayed put, looking and catching sight of what Seifer saw before rushing forward himself. It was Cloud's buster sword, a sword that Cloud was rarely ever without.

Auron walked over to the sword, picking it up as Seifer looked over at him, his eyes glazed over as if he were listening to something else before they focused on him. "He said he sent someone to retrieve him."

"What the…who did he send?!"

"I don't know!" Seifer spat looking down at the ground hard. His jaw was clenched tightly in anger. If wasn't completely sure if he were more angry with himself than with Xehanort. Auron didn't blame him. He was feeling pretty angry at himself right now for telling Cloud to run. He didn't expect Xehanort to find a way to get to Cloud inside of Kingdom Hearts, but he should have known better. He'd acquired Riku, what was stopping him from attaining Cloud as well. "Hell, it could have been anyone, even someone from the Organization."

"If he can control those used by the darkness then of course it could be any…what's wrong?" Seifer was doubled over again, though no noise had escaped his lips. But when he looked up at Auron, the older man felt himself recoil back at the sight of the black filled irises and dark veins that stood out clearly on Seifer's face, especially around his eyes and forehead.

"He says he doesn't…have…arg….use of us…..anymore." Seifer clenched his eyes shut pulling at his hair. "Argh! What the hell is….ah!" Darkness took over Seifer's body as it spread out beneath him. While the darkness seemed a part of him it also seemed to try to take control jerking his body harshly. The way his body looked now it was like he'd been covered completely in mud. You couldn't even tell what you were looking at, darkness moving and crawling over his skin like snakes crawling around a body to crush it.

From the puddle of darkness around his kneeling form heartless crawled free, antennas bobbing as if taking a scent of the air and searching out their prey. It left Auron in shock as he stared at the creatures, wondering how it came to be that they were inside of Kingdom Hearts unarmed, especially with the Door to Light wide open.

And then he felt pain shooting through his own body as he looked down at his hands seeing the darkness crawling over his skin. Even rubbing at the skin did nothing as he tried to get the mud like darkness off of him. No it crawled over him, through him, covering him from head to toe in darkness until there was nothing left but a silent void. In the darkness, he could hear a voice, one that belonged to a man he dearly wanted to crush between his palms.

"I will become the ruler of all worIds…I plunge this world and all worlds into eternal darkness."

TBC…..

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Yay and I think things are starting to get a bit intense again. At least I hope that's the case cause that's sure the effect I'm trying to go for. X.x Hope you guys enjoy these two updates!


	57. Princely Garbs 57

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: I updated on time today! :)

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Princely Garbs 57

"Which way?"

"I don't know." Sora frowned staring at the three paths in front of him. "I can feel Riku's darkness coming from these two here," he said pointing to the two entryways on the left. "I don't really feel anything from the third one though."

"However, we shouldn't skip over it. Leon could be down there." Roxas kneeled down after he spoke the words looking between the three paths with a frown. A lot of things seemed to be flashing across the screen of his visor but Sora couldn't make out what they said. The script looked blocky from his point of view but he figured it was coded so that only the person wearing them could read it. "Should we split up?"

"We may have to," Mickey said coming to stand beside Roxas looking up at him. Even with Roxas kneeling down, the mouse still didn't reach his height so he still had to crane his head up to look at any one of them. "We need to come to a decision quickly though. Every minute counts now." Meaning they'd wasted enough time just to prepare to come here. They still had no ideas about what Xehanort was up to even after all their speculations.

"And we don't want to run the chance of missing Leon." Zack jumped forward standing in front of everyone and grinned holding both his thumbs up. "I'll take this middle one."

"Then I'll take Goofy and Donald on down the third path," Mickey said turned looking up at the two twins. "You two don't have a problem taking the path on the far left do you?"

"I don't have a problem with it," Roxas said shrugging his shoulder. "What about you, Sora? Sora?" Sora didn't respond. His eyes were too focused on the two figures in front of the middle entrance standing right behind Zack. Tsunami and Ansem both looked at him and nodded their heads towards the middle door. Something was there that that must have been bothering them for them to want to go that way. He could just make out Ansem's lips saying something about feeling something familiar there.

"I think we need to take the middle path," Sora finally said blinking his eyes as he brought his focus back to the others.

"Did Tsunami say something?"

"Yeah," Sora said not worried about looking crazy. By now the group with them already knew about their ghost dad following them around along with Riku's grandfather. Of course the only ones that were surprised were Mickey and his crew. "I think there's something down this way that he wants us to see." He was looking at Tsunami again and at his father's nod he couldn't help smiling and rubbing behind his head a bit embarrassed. Well it wasn't like he had a father figure before to feel this way with, what with his father being kicked out of his body and more or less kidnapped by evil forces.

"Alright, then I'll take on the left path," Zack said jumping on over to the next entrance. "You two need to be careful while the adults are gone." He glanced over at them after he said the words looking genuinely worried about letting them go off alone. Sora couldn't blame him really, considering that they were his nephews he hadn't seen for a little over sixteen years.

"Don't worry, we can handle ourselves," Roxas responded giving him a thumbs up as he spoke and actually smiling which Sora was glad to see a lot more of lately. "You need to be careful yourself, old man."

"Old man?!"

"Meet you on the other side." Roxas grabbed Sora's hand pulling him quickly through the center path following after Tsunami and Ansem and easily ignoring the playful glare sent his way. Sora glanced back as he was tugged along but the others were already out of his sight. As they walked the corridor, the interior started to look more like a cave as less like the inside of a building. It grew darker as they went till Sora and Roxas found themselves using their light to guide them.

With how bright their light was, he wasn't surprised that the heartless were staying away from them. That didn't mean he didn't feel their eyes on him. The two moved as quietly as possible, Roxas using his headgear to read ahead of them which Sora still found himself being intrigued by. Though he could make himself some as well, he didn't think he'd be able to use it well. He tended to be the more straightforward one anyways.

"See anything?" Sora asked through his light sending it into Roxas and using it to talk to him with his heart.

"Nothing." Roxas glanced back at him looking though Sora couldn't see his eyes thanks to the visor. "I see a lot of movement but they're all the heartless."

"…ther in….Move further in," Tsunami seemed to whisper to him.

"Tsuna…uh…dad said to move further in," Sora said. He was still the only one of the two that could hear Tsunami's voice, though Roxas really was trying every opportunity he got. At least he was attempting to try and read his lips anyway. "So is what we're looking for further in?" He had to concentrate to be able to hear all of Tsunami's words. Even though he could hear him it wasn't as clear as it had been when he'd had his out of body experience.

"I think," Tsunami said. He frowned and turned around glancing down the path. "I can…something pulling…me. I think…body. Ansem s…feels… same w…."

Roxas glanced back at him. "The only thing we can do is keep moving and find out." Sora nodded his head in agreement as the two of them started moving in again. It took practically no time after that for them to reach the end of the cavernous hallway. They only knew that because the walls around them seemed to just disappear into a large cave. But it wasn't like they knew where they were with all the darkness surrounding them.

"This way," Tsunami beckoned to them. They didn't hesitate to follow after him.

"What is that?" Roxas asked with a bit of disgust. Sora held out his hand forcing the light to grow brighter. The…thing they were staring at was about the size of a human body. He wasn't able to tell what it was though as it was covered in a strange, dark puddle of goop. The goop pulsed like that of a heartbeat, some dripping down on the ground even though more replaced it from somewhere. The smell to it was horrible to the nose, enough to make Sora feel like he would hurl. In fact, he had to turn away before he did just that.

"This is it," Tsunami said sounding and looking clearer than before for some reason. "This is my body." Well…that wasn't exactly the line Sora expected as he looked back at the blob. Was that really his father? What was that stuff?

Sora wondered at the surprised look on Roxas's face before his twin said, "Was that his voice?" He ended up staring at his twin like he'd grown another head suddenly.

"You mean you can hear him?"

"You can hear me?" Tsunami asked at the same time but it went unnoticed as Roxas nodded his head.

"Interesting," Ansem said and now Roxas stared at him as well. Sora did obviously copy him because he was staring too. His eyes were just as wide as he'd never heard Ansem speak since being back in his body.

"Him too? What the…what in the world is happening? Why am I able to hear you two now all of a sudden?"

"I think because we are so close to our bodies," Tsunami said looking at the black blob he considered himself. Wait…our body?

"Using the light might be making a difference as well." Sora glanced around holding his light up. He found exactly what he expected but it didn't change the fact that it made him feel really creeped out. "There's a bunch more of these things here too."

"What are they?"

"I think everyone that Xehanort captured using the darkness."

"Strange how Xehanort knew about us before we even heard of him."

"Unless he's been using us all along," Tsunami said looking like he wanted to touch the blob that contained his body but was restraining himself. There was no telling what touching the stuff could do to you. "Xehanort must be using everyone to feed his darkness. Probably sucking the light from them, especially now that he has Riku's body to control it."

"Then how do we get them out of these things?"

Tsunami rubbed at his chin. "Try…using the keyblades," he said. "The keyblades are used to unlock things that are locked or hidden. So we'll just use them to unlock the light in everyone's heart."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Roxas said shrugging his shoulders and glancing at Sora. The two boys stood side by side, facing the blob. They held their hands out summoning the keyblades and pointing them at the darkness moving as only twins could. Sora didn't count down to know when his brother had started as the light shot as a steady stream from the two keyblades at the same time.

The blob didn't even part ways absorbing the light as one of its own. Sora wouldn't give up though as the two called for more light from their hearts until their bodies glowed.

"This…isn't working," Roxas announced. Sora only nodded his head in agreement. For some reason, the more power he used the more he felt drained of energy. It took more effort than it should have to stop using the light. Especially since the blob only seemed to try to pull him closer by it. He collapsed to a knee when he could make the keyblade disappear, panting hard.

"What was that?" Roxas asked beside him panting just as hard.

"I don't know," Sora admitted staring up at the blob just getting himself back together. There wasn't a mark on it. The thing looked like it hadn't been touched. "It felt like it was trying to suck me in."

"I've never heard of anything capable of doing that," Ansem said both he and Tsunami exchanging looks. Sora could tell from the look that neither male had expected this. So far operation get their bodies back wasn't working as planned. "It's like it was made to keep the light from penetrating it."

"Like a shield," Roxas observed, gibberish popping across his visor as he stared at the blob. From the frown on his lips, he wasn't finding the information he needed. "Then…how do we break through a shield like this?"

"I can think of only two ways offhand, and there's no guarantee of either way working." Tsunami glanced around at everyone before looking around the room at the other dark shields. "Either you use up every ounce of the light in you in one large hit to break through and pretty much end up completely defenseless as an end result." Sora swallowed at that. Bad idea. He doubted any of them, his father included, would have the energy to fight. Not to mention, they were talking about doing this to one blob. There were literally hundreds of them in this place. "Or defeat Xehanort and hopefully break the spell cast on everyone here."

"Neither idea sounds very reassuring," Roxas said before shrugging his shoulders. "But we came here to defeat Xehanort and save everyone right? The let's figure out where he's hi…"

"Sora…"

The call of his name was like a whisper to his ears forcing him to tune out Roxas's words. He turned at the soft call peering into the darkness where he thought he'd saw a flicker of movement. The whisper sounded familiar to him and made his blood warm like it hadn't done in over two weeks. He moved completely missing how Roxas turned his head watching him curiously.

"Sora…"

The whisper wasn't any louder but it froze him on the spot as he recognized the voice now.

"Riku?"

"Sora, wha-" Sora took off running into the darkness. He could hear footfalls behind him but he kept moving, following the sliver of silver hair ahead of him.

"Riku!"

"Sora, stop! That's not Riku!"

But he didn't hear any of that and headed straight towards it through a door he hadn't seen there before. He glanced back once he was through seeing the black gooey stuff covering the door and walls behind him. It slowed him down a moment as he frowned staring at it, the obvious being made to him that he'd been lured somewhere and that there was no option to turn back now. Was he being separated on purpose so the others couldn't help him? Was this Xehanort's doing?

"Sora…"

"Riku…." The whisper called to him again and he kept walking, almost in a daze. Whatever thoughts he'd just in his head momentarily had dissipated at the voice. He felt darkness, Riku's darkness all around him. And even though Xehanort was controlling it, the fact that it belonged to Riku gave him warmth.

So he kept walking surrounded by the confident feeling of being able to see the one person he longed for as he followed the quick glances of Riku before him. He didn't know how long he'd been walking before the light appeared before him. This, he knew, belonged to Riku as well and he boldly stepped into it.

He saw a figure's back before him, a very familiar back that he'd looked up to and after for a long time. He knew the person, the stance, the hair; the way the male turned around and looked at him with first a look of surprise then so much happiness Sora was sure he could burst.

"Riku!"

"Sora!'

"Riku!" The biggest smile was on Sora's face as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him in Riku's direction. In the back of his mind warning bells rang like mad but still he ignored them. Sora slowed down in front of him panting hard as he fell to his knees in front of him tired. He was still drained from using up a portion of his light trying to free his father. He looked up at Riku with the largest grin on his face and felt his heart skip a beat when Riku grinned right back at him.

Riku held his hand out to him, and easily Sora found himself reaching up to grab hold of it. Not that he needed help getting up but if he could just touch him for this moment he knew he'd be the happiest man in the world. He longed to be held in his arms again.

"Sora…don't….it's….trap…"

Sora pulled his hand back quickly just before he could touch him. He reacted before the words could even be processed in his head. That was Riku's voice…inside his head. Wait…but Riku was standing in front of him wasn't he?

"Sora?" Riku stared at him, the look on his face one of hurt. He didn't like the look but he looked down to force himself to focus on his thoughts. "What's wrong?" He remembered now…remembered why he was here. He was here to save Riku…to save him from the one controlling him. Sora slowly pushed himself to his feet, swallowing and forcing himself to look at the boy in front of him.

"…You're not Riku."

"What?" Riku frowned and took a step forward causing Sora to take a cautious step back. Riku seemed to hesitate at the step, the frown somehow seeming to deepen more. "What are you talking about?"

"You…you can't be…I mean…Riku was captured by Xehanort."

"I escaped." Riku chuckled that familiar chuckle of his and Sora felt the shiver go down his spine. That was Riku's laugh. But that wasn't Riku. It was an imposter, an imposter stealing Riku's laughs and smiles and trying to steal his whole life.

"Stop …." Sora kept walking backwards as Riku starting advancing on him.

"Why are you running from me?"

"D-Don't…" Sora's back hit against the wall and he swallowed as Riku, no the imposter moving closer to him.

"Don't you trust me?" Sora was pinned to the wall not physically but by the other's stare and found himself glancing away. The older prince moved closer pressing against Sora and making the younger male squirm beneath him. He trapped Sora's arms over his head and reached out taking two fingers and pressing them to the chubby cheeks forcing Sora merely with his presence to look at him. Sora's heart was beating fast and he found it hard to look away again. He was trapped by the eyes, eyes he hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

He hadn't seen Riku in so long…why was he running from this? "You do trust me, don't you?" Riku asked again leaning in closer to him, lips mere inches from Sora's own.

"I…" Sora stared into his eyes lips parting slightly the closer Riku got to him. But when he felt the lightest brush of the lips against his he clenched his eyes shut forcefully pushing the older male back. "S-Stop it!"

"Sora?"

"Stop pretending and give him back! Give me back Riku!" Sora yelled out quickly pulling his keyblade free as he glared at the male, the male that was using his lover's body for himself. "Xehanort!"

"Heh…" Xehanort grinned as he reached down brushing the invisible dirt from himself. "Interesting…to see that you do have some self-restraint." He smirked focusing his attention on Sora and his keyblade. "You came close to easily being swayed by my acting. What gave it away?"

He knew what it was. He'd heard it …heard Riku…even though it was very brief. He believed from the words that it was the real Riku…he could somehow…feel the sincerity in the words. Riku was worried about him. This…thing in front of him wasn't. "None of your business! Just know that I'm going to bring Riku back no matter what!"

TBC…

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Honestly I think this chapter could have ended up really long so I had to force myself to cut it off. Granted this means the part I had to cut will be used in the next chapter but yeah… Hope you enjoyed this! I know I had fun writing it! Uh…typing…hehe yeah that.


	58. Princely Garbs 58

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: One of three updates! I haven't proofed the other two chapters I finished yet so you'll still have to wait on those for the moment D:

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Princely Garbs 58

How'd he lose sight of Seifer so quickly? He could swear the taller male had been right behind him. It seemed that when they bumped into Cloud, the other had just…vanished. It didn't help that Tidus had been in the lead at the time and talking too much as usual.

He'd been catching glances of Seifer since and each time before he could catch up to him, Cloud would make an appearance and Seifer would quickly escape in a different direction. Tidus could put two and two together to figure out that Seifer was avoiding Cloud for one reason or another.

He couldn't figure out the reason though since Seifer hadn't said anything about it during their earlier episode. The darkness had come close to drawing him in. He was certain if something happened to Seifer, he wouldn't be able to run away. Take responsibility? That's what Seifer had said but…what did he mean by that?

"Whoa, Tidus! Where ya been?" Tidus turned around blinking as he saw Wakka and Selphie heading his way. Wakka actually had that funky looking ball in his hands though where he found it, Tidus didn't want to know. "We ain't seen ya since ya left the training area, ya."

"I was uh…busy," he said rubbing behind his head. Well he was, you know with keeping the darkness from invading his boyfriend's brain part. What was he even doing with darkness anyway? He should find those two guys that went him and question them till their ears fell off. They had to know something. He'd ask Leon if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't there. Lucky bastard escaped before anyone could get a word out of him.

"You ran off to go get kissy kissy with Seifer, didn't you?" Selphie giggled at the flushed look on his face. "Yay, I was right! Tidus and Seifer sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-"

"Quiet!" Tidus yelled out quickly clamping his hand over her mouth, his cheeks even redder if that was possible. "You don't need to announce it to the world!" Even if everybody already knew thanks to Tidus's own big mouth. Seriously, he needed to learn to keep his mouth shut or it was going to end up getting him in trouble one day. Seifer already threatened to glue it shut more than enough, he didn't need to give him even more reasons to.

"Mmm!"

"…"What?" At the panicked look on her face and how she wasn't looking at him, Tidus removed his hand from her mouth. "What is it?"

"Heartless!" She hissed out loudly.

"Heartless?" Tidus turned and quickly had to cover his own mouth when he saw the small heartless standing in the middle of the hallway. Good thing Wakka was there to pull the two of them by their arms into a nearby room before they could be spotted. Because the way he was stuck standing there in shock, the weird creature would have caught him and heaven knows what it would have done to him.

Three heads and six pairs of eyes peered around the corner looking at the seemingly lost heartless that was darting its head this way and that. Tidus watched the small thing walking down the hall in their direction, antennae bopping along the way. It was strange to see the necklace around its neck seeing as how heartless didn't care about possessions or really anything at all but hearts that held light. He wasn't really sure how heartless worked. Literally, drove heartless to chase after non-heartless people? Was it really the hearts of the people they were after? He sort of skipped that training in class…now he wish he had paid attention instead of falling asleep.

"What's it doing here?" Selphie whispered out leaning over him.

"How should I know?" He replied staring at the thing. When it got closer the three of them leaned back into the darkness. The heartless walked past the room and they were able to peer out at it from the doorway. "It looks like it's looking for something," Tidus observed watching it walk past them and look around seeming to be searching with the two antennae on its head.

"Looking for what?"

"Quit asking me things I don't know!" Two hands, not his, clamped over his mouth quickly at his loud outburst. The heartless must have heard it still because he turned around easing closer to their hiding place. He didn't know what made him think that they couldn't be seen by a creature that lived and breath darkness. But as the heartless got closer, he tried to stay still even though his heart was speeding up. The heartless was looking right at them and getting closer, obviously seeing them now.

Then the unexpected happened when the heartless stopped short and seemed to turn his head in another direction before rushing off quickly down the hallway. Tidus crouched there stunned for a moment. The heartless didn't attack them. Why didn't it attack them? It could have easily taken the three of them out. They had no defense against the darkness.

"You almost got us caught," Selphie said slapping the back of his head.

"Ow! It's not my fault you kept asking questions!" Tidus rubbed at his head as he slipped out of the room glaring at her before he looked down the hallway. "You think he found what he was looking for?"

"Seems that way, ya." Wakka stepped out beside him, frowning and also staring at the direction the heartless went. "Ya think we need ta check it out? Could be something important to us."

Tidus nodded his head. "Yeah, we can at least tell Seifer and the others about it when we find it." Tidus pulled his wooden sword from his back, cursing mentally that he didn't have a real sword yet. He was still just a trainee himself after all.

The group of them, Tidus leading the way, ran off in the direction the heartless went. They almost lost sight of it at one point, following along the path of the palace before Selphie pointed the way leading towards some stairs. They took the stairs as quickly but quietly as they could, which was hard when you moved around like a lumbering monster compared to a creature that moved like air.

Tidus was able to see sky when he peered through the latch at the top of the stairs. Ok, so they were up on the rooftop. Why did this seem like a weird place for a heartless to go? He peered around catching sight of the heartless's feet and…wait…something else was up there?

"What do ya see, ya?"

"Shhh." Tidus placed a finger over his lips but he didn't look back at the other two keeping his eyes focused on that something else. "I think there's something else up there."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Tidus frowned pushing the latch up a little more. The thing…no a person…no wait. What was that? He could see the shape of pants and shoes that looked familiar to him. He couldn't push the latch up further to see the face considering they'd really be exposed if he did. What was strange was that the pants and the shoes, probably everything was the color of shadows. There was darkness, even though the sun was shining overhead. The clothes seemed similar to the blackness the heartless themselves held.

"I think it's a heartless."

Then the darkness seemed to slip away and the familiar sight of the clothes hit him hard enough he almost fell back into the others. "It's Seifer."

The cover over their heads was lifted and the three looked up in surprised seeing a single yellow eye staring at them. He was covered in a shadow similar to Seifer. Aside from the one eye and the outline of his clothes and features, you would think it was his shadow.

"…Auron?" The older male didn't say anything and Tidus felt himself getting nervous as the three of them climbed up onto the roof. Why was Auron up here with Seifer and a heartless? "Hey uh…what's…going on?" Tidus tried making conversation, smiling nervously as he glanced at the other two. They looked just as freaked out as he did, especially with the weird yellow eye staring at them. He glanced back behind him, towards where he'd seen Seifer standing at and started to run to his side.

"Seifer!"

"….."

"Seifer?" The older boy was staring at him but it wasn't with a look of recognition. It slowed Tidus to a stop as he glanced back at Auron before turning and staring at Seifer. He didn't look like he knew anything or that he even cared. There was no emotion on his face. It looked just as blank as Auron's did. What happened to everyone?

"What's wrong with them?" Selphie asked tugging on his sleeve and making him have to pull it from her grip. He knew she was just worried and probably more than a little scared. He was too, honestly. He'd never seen the two men like this before. He thought for a moment that maybe this wasn't really them…but something in his heart told him otherwise. This was the real Auron and Seifer.

"I don't know," he responded then frowned looking at Auron's one eye again. "Are they being controlled?" Auron reached behind his back gripping hold of the hilt of his sword with one hand and crouching down in what was considered his attacking pose. The only reason Tidus knew it to be an attacking pose is because he saw him use it on Leon during a sparring exercise. Let's just say the results weren't pretty and Cloud ended up lecturing Auron for the rest of the day.

"Uh…what's he doing now, ya?"

Auron was taking a swallow of the liquor that lay in the flask by his side. He'd never seen this done before but he had a feeling it wasn't a good sign. Especially since Auron rarely drank. He'd seen a lot of Auron's forms but he'd never seen any of them while he was drinking. "…Run."

"Huh? What are you say-"

"Just run!" Tidus yelled out quickly grabbing their hands getting just out of range as Auron blew out towards them covering the area they just stood in with flames. He didn't even know Auron could do an attack like that. How was that even possible?

He ran past the little heartless that just seemed to tilt its head and watch them, the medallion necklace glimmering around its neck. Tidus ran towards Seifer but skidded to a stop in front of him staring at the gun blade he held in his hand. Was Seifer going to attack him?

"Seifer," Tidus panted out softly before swallowing attempting to smile at him. "Don't do this…This isn't like you." He felt Selphie curled up behind him and he was certain Wakka was watching his back. But he couldn't turn around now, not when he was in front of this person he'd been looking for.

Seifer stared at them with blank yellow eyes void of emotions. Tidus found himself staring trying to find his boyfriend somewhere in those empty eyes. It was like looking into an empty jar of cookies. There just wasn't anything there. Nothing. "Seifer please…wake up! Fight it! Don't…don't do this." Seifer didn't hear him starting to bring the sword down on him. "Seifer!" Tidus clenched his eyes shut.

"Duck!" Tidus reacted to the words ducking down with the others before he saw the keyblade fly overhead hitting Seifer's gunblade and knocking it from his hand. Seifer didn't seem to take notice besides to look up in the direction the keyblade came from.

Tidus looked as well expecting to see Roxas or Sora even Mickey even though in the back of his mind he knew they weren't there. He was surprised to see Kairi standing there and holding out her hand out until the keyblade-

"-you're a keyblader?! " Tidus asked shocked just as the blade flew back into her hand.

"No time to explain, just hurry up." He didn't have to be told twice, not with Auron advancing right behind them. The three ran past Seifer to where Kairi was waiting on the other side by another latch that would lead down below.

"Hurry!" Tidus stopped by the stairs to let the other two go first. He told himself it was to protect them even though he glanced back looking at Seifer was had retrieved his sword and was heading their way along with Auron. He wanted desperately to talk some sense into him but with the other persistently telling him to come on, he turned away following the others. Kairi came in after him and turned pulling the latch shut and securing it in place with a lock.

"This way," Kairi whispered urgently leading them down another hall. "It's not going to hold long."

As surprising as it was, Tidus could tell they were close to where the Door to Light was. He could tell because of the photo on the wall of the royal family that he remembered seeing from another night they ran away from heartless. The only difference was that this time Seifer wasn't there to guide them.

"What are we going to do about Seifer?" Not once did he think it was someone or something else. He knew it was Seifer. It wasn't anyone else but Seifer. Even if he didn't act a thing like the boy.

"Everyone that's been affected by the darkness has changed," Kairi said softly. "I ran into a few from the Organization earlier and even they looked and acted strangely. I believe that the man Sora and the others are after has something to do with it."

"But what do we do to save him?" Tidus said louder pushing past the others and reaching up to forcefully turn Kairi around to look at him. "What do we do to bring him back?"

"Calm down, Tidus," Wakka said resting a hand on Tidus's shoulder who's only response was to shrug it off. "He's not the only one that's changed, ya?"

"You have a keyblade now, right?" Tidus asked roughly squeezing Kairi's shoulder causing her to flinch. He didn't care, he was desperate now. He needed to help Seifer quick. "Can't you force the darkness away?" She didn't say anything and turned her head away looking at the ground. "Kairi!" Tidus yelled out persistently.

"That's enough, Tidus!" Wakka yelled in return dragging him away from her. Tidus stared up at Wakka in shock. He'd never heard the other yell at anyone before. It made him think about how he was acting. He felt ashamed that he wasn't keeping his cool. How was he supposed to help Seifer like this?

"I'm…not strong enough to do that," she said looking up at Tidus finally. "The most I can do is trap them in one place for now and wait for Sora and the others to return."

"Kairi…" Tidus pleaded. "Please…I can't do this." He reached up rubbing the back of his arm across his eyes and was shocked to see wetness there. Was he crying? Impossible. He didn't cry. Did he? "I can't handle this…I need Seifer here…I can't do this without him."

"Tidus…" Selphie was beside him looking sad as she reached out patting his back softly. "It's ok, don't cry. We'll turn him back somehow."

He chuckled slightly but there was no warmth to it. "I'm pathetic, aren't I? He told me he wanted me to stop him, that he was holding me responsible. And yet…I can't do it. Stupid Xehanort…" He turned kicking the wall beside him. "Stupid Heartless and keyblades and…and darkness."

"…That one little heartless that had the thing around its neck," Wakka stated drawing attention back to him. "Do you think that has anything to do with what's wrong with everyone?"

"Wakka, you might be on to something," Kairi said quietly but excitedly. "I remember seeing more of them around the palace near the Organization members. Maybe that's what's changing everyone."

"What is it?" Selphie asked, confused.

"I don't know, ya. But I bet if we destroy those, we'll turn everyone back to normal, ya know?"

"You're a genius!" Selphie yelled out before covering her mouth and lowering her voice. "If we do that then everyone's sure to be normal again."

"Yeah," Tidus looked up confidence returning in his voice. "Yeah, that's gotta be it! That's what's controlling them!" He looked up at Kairi. "Do you think we can break those lockets with the keyblade?"

Kairi frowned slightly before she nodded. "I can try."

"Alright!" Tidus yelled out back to his usual self. If the keyblade didn't work, he'd just have to break them himself. "Let's go destroy some necklaces and bring Seifer back to us!"

"And everyone else, ya."

"…and everyone else too!"

"Yeah!"

TBC…

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Sorry it took about I don't know how many weeks. Between house painting, moving my room, and having floors installed, it's been a pain in the butt these, I think, three weeks. However, this is one of the three chapters I have completed. I'll try added the other two chapters tomorrow, and if not that then later on this week. I honestly think you'll like them. I hope so anyways. ^^


	59. Princely Garbs 59

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Two of three updates! :D I've still proofing chapter 60 and chapter 61 is still in the works though I'm having absolute fun with it.

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Princely Garbs 59

When Leon finally woke up, he didn't expect to feel his body being weighed down. The sound of chains reached his ears and explained the unnecessary weight gain. Large, metal bands surrounded his wrists, ankles, and neck making it a chore just to get to his knees. Chains rattled at his movements connecting all the bands together and looking like someone's sick fantasy.

The low lights hanging overhead in the room made it easier to see if not to give more than a vague detail of what he was looking at. The chains around his feet connected to the ground keeping him bound in place. The weight itself didn't allow for much more than kneeling and prevented him from standing. Even if he wasn't chained in place, he couldn't escape without it taking more than several years to even move.

Another figure lay across the room from him covered in chains just like him. He couldn't tell if it was someone he knew or not due to the poor lights. The person wasn't moving but Leon doubted they were dead. Why would you chain up a dead body anyway? Unless this person was dead after being chained up.

"Hey," Leon hissed out quietly then louder when there was no response. "Hey!"

"He can't hear you," a familiar voice said pulling his attention towards the darkness. "But shouldn't you be more worried about yourself anyway?"

"You…" Leon stared, a mixture of feelings coursing through his body from shock and anger and even betrayal. He didn't let the emotions show on his face, instead keeping his expression at a cold, hard, stare.

"Yuffie…"

The girl smiled at him looking like her usual spunky self as she pushed her black hood up to show her face. In a way he felt bad for forgetting her even if it confused him why he suddenly forgot about her in the first place. In as many years as he'd worked with her, why then did he forget all about her?

"Oh goodie, you remember me now." She giggled and clapped her hands together as innocent as ever. "How have you been, Squall?"

"Leon," he corrected automatically growling at her. He knew she knew how much he hated that name. The cocky, little smirk on her lips didn't make him feel any better either.

"Right right. It's Leon now." She tapped her fingers against her lips as she walked moving closer to him. "You were only known as Squall back on Terra." He felt a chill go over his body as he stared up at the petite girl. Leon tried to recall if he'd ever talked to her about Terra. The fact that she knew his name wasn't surprising. But for her to know about Terra, a place worlds away from their own world of Gaia, she either heard it from someone from there or…

"You're from Terra," Leon said looking as shocked as he felt. He couldn't even hide his shock. He didn't think he'd ever meet anyone from his own planet yet here he was working all these years near a person of the same world.

"I sure am," Yuffie said then gave an innocent looking smile as she squatted down in front of him.

"I'm part of the Wutai Clan."

"Wutai…wait…wasn't it-"

"Attacked? Destroyed?" She stared at him smile dropping from her face. She actually looked sad and in that brief moment he actually felt sorry for her. "Maybe you remember, maybe not. Squally did always have such a bad memory. After all, he forgot about little ole me along with everyone else."

He ignored that last statement, saving it for a time later where he could figure out how she made everyone forget about her. He felt like he would regret asking but he couldn't stop himself. "Remember what?"

"Killing the people of Wutai, Destroying my clan, and killing my father the leader of Wutai." The way she said it all was calm, too calm. It was like it was just an everyday occurrence, to talk about the death of everything you knew.

"I've never-"

"Don't try to deny it!" She yelled out punching him hard enough to make his head turn despite the chains. There was a metallic taste of blood in his mouth that he spit out to see the splattering of red that hit the ground.

"I saw it all! I saw you cut through the people of Wutai like they were made of grass! I saw the blue flames that burned the city to rumbles! I saw…" she paused and Leon looked up at her seeing the pain she suffered. She panted hard as if she'd been running even though she hadn't. "I saw…you…standing there after it all. Laughing, staring up at the sky with your…blue eyes….blond hair…" She seemed confused after that. For a moment she just stood there, clutching at her head and shaking it back and forth. "No…no that can't be right…"

"Yuffie," Leon called out to her, the sound of her name enough to make her notice him. The chains jingled when he shifted positions. "I don't know what you saw, but it wasn't me. The night Wutai was attacked…I was having an argument with my father." He didn't like to think about it, about the unimportant fight that in time lead him to being here on Gaia. "And that same night was when I appeared here on Gaia."

"You're right," Yuffie said slumping down in front of him looking a defeated child. "You're absolutely right…it wasn't you."

"…What?"

"How could I forget that?" Yuffie shook her head talking to herself in a low voice. "The eyes…the hair…blond hair…that blond hair…." Her eyes looked haunted as she repeated the colors and turned away from Leon back towards the figure lying on the ground. "Blue…eyes…" she said slowly getting up and starting to walk towards the person. "Blond…hair…"

"Blond hair?" Leon slid the best he could towards the figure far as his chains would let him. He could see the glimmer of blond hair thanks to the light overhead.

"This person," Yuffie said staring down at the body. "Blue eyes…and blond hair. Xehanort told me he was from Terra but…to think he did that…that he killed…!"

Yuffie kicked the man's chest hard, hard enough to make him groan out and roll to his side clutching at his chest.

"Cloud?!" Leon choked when the chain pulled tight around his neck from trying to crawl towards him. What was Cloud doing there? He should be safe inside Kingdom Hearts right now. How did he get here? Did Seifer tell him what happened?

Cloud coughed again slowly opening his eyes panting and clutching at his chest, from Leon's point of view looking wild and confused and definitely in pain.

"Cloud!" What was he doing there chained up?! What did Yuffie mean he was from Terra?! "Yuffie!"

"Sorry, this is your first time hearing about this huh Squall?" She glanced back at him after saying his name looking apologetic, even as she stomped down on Cloud's hip causing another yell of pain to escape. "Oops, I meant Leon."

"Stop it!" Leon yelled out. "Don't touch him." He hated that he sounded like he was pleading. Probably because he really was pleading. Cloud wasn't saying anything still and it was bothering him now. "Cloud…Cloud answer me? Are you ok?"

"We drugged him up pretty good when we kidnapped him," Yuffie said looking smug as she stared down at him. "So it's probably a little hard for him to stay coherent." Leon looked at Cloud seeing the way his eyes weren't really focusing, like his was in a state of delusion.

"Cloud, pull it together! Cloud!"

"Le…on," Cloud choked the name out looking in his direction but not necessarily at him. He coughed again before he closed his eyes falling back tiredly. The chains were way too heavy for him, especially when his body probably felt like nothing more than putty.

"I hope you don't mind that we brought him along," Yuffie said sitting down beside Cloud and petting his head like he was some kind of pet. He didn't even take notice as he just laid there comatose. "See, in order for us to return to Terra, we need both of you. You're the key to opening the door to Terra. After all, you're of a rare breed with that special power of yours."

"What do you want with Terra?" Leon said talking to her even though he kept his eyes on Cloud who looked like he'd passed out again. "Why us?"

"What I wanted was revenge on the person who attacked Wutai," Yuffie said. "Though with the killer right here in front of me, I don't really need anything else." She said the words even as she gripped Cloud's hair hard pulling it up making him groan out in pain.

"Stop that!"

She ignored him doing what she wanted as she kept talking. "But I can't kill him yet. Xehanort still needs him and you as well."

"For what? What is he planning?"

"If I told you that the Kingdom Heart's royal family can unlock any kind of door to any world, then Terra is the key to getting access to those doors." She let Cloud's hair go letting the head hit back on the floor again.

"….Meaning…?"

"You're so dense, Squally Wally." Leon glared at the nickname but he didn't say anything, as long as she wasn't hurting Cloud who was obviously passed out now. "Even though Sora and the others have keyblades, the only doors on Gaia are the Door to Light and Darkness, and the Door to Magic Kingdom. Yet we came from Terra which has a link to all doors."

"And if he unlocks all the doors, the darkness can spread throughout all worlds," Leon said in wonderment.

"Yeah, that's it! Now you're catching on, Squally boy." She stood up dusting herself off. "Anyways, after the door to Terra opens up and we go through, then I'll kill him." He didn't know how it was that they could open the way to Terra, but he was certain it couldn't be anything good. He needed to get through to Yuffie. He needed to get both him and Cloud out of there.

"You said you found out Cloud was from Terra because of Xehanort right?"

"Yeah that's correct. What about it?"

"How does Xehanort know that Cloud is from Terra?"

"Well how else? He has the blue flames. Only people from your city even possess it."

"So if that's true, how does he even know about that? He had to have been to Terra before."

"That…I don't know." Yuffie frowned slightly. "He could be from Terra."

"He could be. But he's known to take over people with darkness. Cloud was taken over before and forced to kill the king and queen of Kingdom Hearts. What if he had been forced to kill your people as well?" Leon saw the sharp look she gave him but he kept going. "What if the person you're serving is in fact the person who killed your father and destroyed Wutai by taking over another person's body?"

"That's not possible!"

"And now you're helping him kill the rest of the world. Aren't you just like him then? Murdering innocent people for no reason? Would you even feel regret?"

"Stop it!"

"If you kill Cloud you'll just be killing an innocent man who had nothing to do with the murder of your people. You'll be just like that guy. He's tricking you and messing with your head, confusing you just like how he confused Cloud and all the others he's manipulated. You're just his pawn in this sick game that he's playing for no reason at all!"

Something whizzed past his head cutting his cheek before making a thump into something further behind him. He felt the wetness running down his cheek, knew it was blood and saw where the girl had another dagger in her hand ready to throw it. It didn't faze him one bit as he kept talking to her.

"The Yuffie I know is still there. The spunky, loud mouth girl who always stays in trouble but never failed to protect anyone is still there. All those times back at Radiant Garden, I know they were not all lies. All the times spent with the prince and his friends, with your comrades and allies, those feelings aren't a lie, not to any of us."

"How would you know?" She was standing holding not just one dagger but two now as she stared at him. "I could have been faking it just like how those Organization guys were doing."

"Because you haven't lost your light yet," Leon said staring at her angry eyes, scared eyes. "Because if you had lost your light you wouldn't be feeling anger for your father's death or for the people of your village. You wouldn't be letting your emotions get the better of you. You wouldn't be feeling the way you do now."

"And what feeling is that?"

"You wouldn't be feeling lost right now." She stared at him further before she dropped her hand to her side letting the daggers fall from her hand. Yuffie quickly followed it, dropping to her knees as she stared blankly in front of her. He'd gotten to her now, she was in his grasp. "Yuffie," he said softly and with as much confidence as he could give. His palms were sweaty and his heart beat fast in his chest. He was worried about setting her off. He needed to get her on his side to be able to save both her and Cloud. She was being manipulated just like the Organization had been. He didn't like seeing that happen to her.

"Yuffie," he said again making her eyes focus on him now. "Help me…help us get free. Help us stop him from hurting anyone else, from hurting our friends. Help stop him from doing to others what he has done to you." He'd never spoken so much in his life like how he was speaking now. But he had to do this, if he didn't, then they would probably both die, hell they might all three die there.

The girl swallowed and picked up the daggers walking over to Leon. Her hair was now in disarray but it didn't make her look any less adorable. She looked down at his chains, picking up his wrist and turning it this way and that looking for something that indicated where the key went. "There's no keyhole on here."

"Is it made of darkness too?"

"Probably," Yuffie said looking up at him. "A keyblader should be able to open it with no problem but…"

"But…?"

"….Right now Sora's probably alone with Xehanort."

"What?!"

"But we still have time!" She added in quickly. "Between me and the other two girls, that means there's at least someone out there not being watched by anyone. It's probably the ones that went with Sora."

"…And?"

"Hold tight! I'll find someone!" She slipped a dagger into his shirt and covered it with his jacket before she stood up. He stared at her in confusion but she was already walking heading towards the darkness. "Whatever happens, don't give in to him, ok?" She glanced back at him waiting for his silent nod before she went forth into the darkness in search of a keyblader.

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TBC…

And I'll probably update chapter 60 tomorrow and if not, then probably on uh...the end of the week...end...something like that.


	60. Princely Garbs 60

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Whoo finished this one. This one was kinda...fun to do, actually.

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Princely Garbs 60

The corridor Mickey chose turned more and more stone like as he went. He could feel a chill through his body that he was certain was not from the cold. His two companions plus body guards were close behind him, protecting his back while he protected their front. His hand was held in front of him, guiding them by the small light that hovered over his palm. It didn't do much good for him, especially when it felt like the darkness was trying to snuff his little light out.

But he kept pushing through, making it to a small library, or at least it seemed to be by the cobweb covered books that started to show up on the bookshelf made into the walls. The smell of old, rotting paper was strong to his little mouse nose though he imagined it must be worse for Goofy considering the dog snout he had. In fact, Goofy came close to sneezing right at that moment but Mickey was thankful to Donald who quickly stuck a finger under his nose to stop it. He couldn't blame him though, not with how much dust and grime was in the place.

He paused at a sound signaling the others to stop as well. Closing his eyes he tuned his ears to the single sound, listening as he heard the familiar sound of pages of a book turning slowly but steadily. With a sign for the other two to stay quiet, he pushed forward as quietly as his mouse feet could carry him. The sound of the turning paper came louder to his large ears. There was a spot that split into three directions, forward and to the sides. He signaled for the three of them to split up before he continued going forward down the corridor of bookshelves.

It was like a graveyard how silent it was in the library. Large or small, he couldn't tell from his height, but he knew it was old, probably older than him…and he was pretty old by this world's standards. Stone floors turned to wood, or at least he found that out as he took a step and the floor creaked loudly underneath him. He froze where he was, not moving a muscle, his eyes wide as he stared ahead of him looking for a sign that he'd given himself away. For a moment he heard nothing, but after a minute the pages continued on and he found himself breathing a sigh of relief as he continued on.

Luck was with him as with his other two companions because he didn't step on any more rotten boards, making it to the end of the corridor with little problem. He doused the light before he fully made it, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness and the dim candle lights before he peered out. Here the page turning was louder and when he looked ahead towards the center, he saw a table sitting at the center of what must have been the start of all the corridors, six in all. He saw Goofy across the way peering at him strangely and didn't bother to ask how he got way over there as he placed a finger to his lips before pointing at the table. It was odd to see Goofy in his human form, especially since he'd told them they should stay in the other, stronger form until this whole mess was over with. He could only assume there was a reason for it.

Sitting at the table, head leaned over a book was a young girl, about the age of sixteen from the looks of it. She seemed very out of place in the library, her white dress and blond hair a bright contrast to the darkness surrounding her. She was busy working, writing away in the small notebook on the desk in front of her before she sat up, turned the page, and continued on as if she'd never stopped. Donald came to a stop at one of the corridors, indicated not by sight but by how Goofy's focus changed for a moment before turning to the girl with no sense of alarm, but with a little bit of confusion for some reason. At the moment they were safe. The problem was…they'd stumbled on something they hadn't expected.

The girl seemed oblivious to them but when she lifted her head and looked right at Mickey, the old king knew he'd been found out. "There's no reason to stay way over there, Mr. Mickey." She smiled and slid the chair beside her out patting the dusty cushion. He frowned at hearing his name on the girl's lips. "Please, come have a seat. Your friends can come too." Mickey looked over at Goofy skeptically before the three from Magic Kingdom stepped out walking to the table. He was cautious with his movements, walking slowly until he stopped beside the chair, staring at it skeptically. "It won't bite," she said patting the chair again and sending up a cloud of dust that made Mickey wiggle his nose.

"I…think I'll stand," Mickey said clearing his throat when his voice came out deeper than it should have.

"If that's what you want to do," she smiled at him then looked down at what Mickey could now see where drawings. He didn't exactly question why he was able to see the drawings easily without climbing into the chair. In fact, action went completely over his head.

They weren't exactly good drawings, something a child would draw. Which, considering that the girl looked like she could be Sora's age, would explain things. "You look like you're looking for something."

"We might be," Mickey said tilting his head and looking at the peculiar looking drawing of himself in his human form and wait…why did he feel like he was in his human form? He looked down at himself then over to Goofy and Donald taking in the fact that they were, just like him, both in human form. Wait so when did that happened? He looked back at the corridor he'd left out of and sure enough the bookcases got shorter the further he looked down. Had he been forced to change while walking that corridor?

"Sorry, I prefer it when you guys are human," the girl said looking up at them and smiling. She looked innocent enough but something seemed out of place about her.

"How… did you know my name was Mickey?" he asked thinking back to what she'd said when they'd first been officially noticed.

"I know a lot of things, Mr. Mickey." She sat up putting down the pen in front of her as she turned to look at him properly. She looked more mature than she had when she'd been drawing. "By the way, my name is Namine. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Namine…" Mickey frowned. "Aren't you…?"

"Sephiroth's daughter?" She laughed at that. "Yes and no."

"Which makes you…?"

"Riku's cousin. And Kairi's."

"But-"

"Not by blood, though. I was adopted."

"Ah." Well that explained some things in quick words. Though it was weird to think of Sephiroth adopting anyone, at least with how he was when they'd met.

"So…Sephiroth adopted you?"

"He did."

"Was he…in his right mind when he adopted you?"

"He was perfectly normal."

Mickey glanced at Goofy and Donald. Sephiroth…if he had been normal…then what made him change? And why was his adopted daughter in this place with Xehanort?

"Would you like to see some of my drawings?" She asked sliding the book over.

"No thanks," Mickey said feeling like they really needed to move on. They had to find Riku and get out of this creepy place.

"Really?" She looked like she was pouting but the emotion didn't even touch her eyes. "It'll be in your best interest to do it."

"…." Mickey frowned as the book was pushed towards him more and finally relented reaching down to turn the page. If he needed to amuse the girl for a few moments, so be it.

"You should start at the beginning. It's not nice to peek ahead." Mickey glanced at the girl. She looked completely serious about her words. He turned the book back to the first page and paused staring at it. Though the drawings were, as he said, childish, the image it was trying to portray wasn't. A village, one he'd never heard of spelled out as Wutai was drawn covered in flames and the sight of dying people. It confused him and at the same time it felt surreal. Why would a child draw something like this?

"Keep going. It gets even more interesting." Mickey glanced at her with a little more care before he turned to the next page.

"What is this?" Mickey asked, seeing more, a man with blond hair burning the village with blue flames.

"Wutai Village. It's on Terra." The girl looked just like someone telling an interesting story. "It's not of this world. But that's where we're going next."

Mickey stopped turning the page when he got to the next image, Sephiroth, or what appeared to be him and some shadowy creature that was sticking halfway out of his body.

"This is when Xehanort first took over Sephiroth's body," she said. It sounded like a game when he heard her saying it but he knew it was far from it. This girl knew a lot, either by witnessing it or by being told about it. Sephiroth…is that how he changed? It sounded very familiar to how Riku was being controlled now.

"And this one here," the girl said turning the page to the next image of a badly drawn blond stabbing a man with a crown on his head. "I drew this a long time ago so they're not as good."

"Tsunami…and Cloud?" This girl…how did she know about all of this?

"It seems Cloud goes through a lot of killing." She looked up at him like she was hiding a secret. "Did you know that Cloud was one of the first people that Xehanort invaded? Xehanort said he's so easy to take over, like a hand fitting into a pocket. It's a shame you guys had to block out his access with that dumb memory spell."

"What is all this? What are you showing me? Why are you showing me this?!"

"Oh this one," she turned the page again and Mickey couldn't help but to look. "When Riku was taken over by Xehanort and was brought here. Xehanort said it took him a while to gain full control over him. Riku is a tough fighter, but even he can't last against Xehanort."

"Stop this madness," Mickey was about to grab the book and throw it but Namine rested her hand flat on the center of the book, staring up at him with the most serious expression. "Do you want to see what happens in the future? I've already drawn it out." Mickey swallowed, tried to look away but it was like she held him captivated.

"Your majesty!"

Donald's outburst jolted Mickey's attention returning it to the book in front of him gathering his senses back the best he could. "No, I don't think-"

"You might learn something about how to stop it. I don't let just anyone see it after all." She laughed slightly leaning on the table in front of him looking, and acting far more grown than she really was. "Just a peek?" She held her thumb and index finger mere centimeters from each other. "One little peek?"

"Your highness…"

"I don't think this is a good idea, hyuk."

"…But it's true it might help us learn what to do next."

"That is the right answer," She turned to a certain page before turning the book around again pushing it towards him. Mickey hesitated before leaning over and looking down at the book. At first he thought it was a blank page but then he could clearly see the image starting to take shape. He glanced at Namine quickly, seeing her hand moving with the pen even though the book wasn't in front of her. He looked down at the book again seeing more color, more of the image coming into form.

Doors. As many as his eyes could see appeared on the paper, in all shapes and sizes the doors were. There were literally hundreds, no thousands, no maybe even more of them showing up on the paper, so many he couldn't count. He saw the image of Riku, no of Xehanort who had Riku's body standing in front of the doors. He had Sora at his side, held by a leash looking like no more than a mere pet to him as he held the keyblade to the doors. But there was no one else, none but the two in the picture.

He didn't know what it meant though and glanced up at the girl in confusion. She just smiled at him and turned the page drawing another image up. This time he saw Kingdom Hearts covered in darkness, saw hearts hovering in the air as if they had no home anymore. It made his blood chill, draining from his face as he saw creatures of darkness overrunning the palace. Were the people in Kingdom Hearts in danger right now?

They made it to another page, another image. This one was of himself surrounded by darkness and heartless. He saw Donald and Goofy a little further away lying on the ground obviously dead since their heads were decapitated from the bodies. He couldn't stomach the image though and turned away quickly to look at the two as if to judge if they were alive or not.

Namine didn't bulge except to lay her pen on the table and look up at him. "You get what the last one was right?"

Mickey swallowed again and forced himself to stay calm as he looked at her. "Those other two images…what were those?"

"The first one is our final destination. When this is over, we will go to Terra to where all the doors to the other worlds are hidden. We'll use Sora to unlock the doors and allow darkness to invade them. Then there will be no place left untouched by Xehanort's reign."

That didn't sound good. Not one bit. They had to stop that from happening, but how? "Then…the second image?"

"That's what is going to happen to Kingdom Hearts soon, in fact it has already began. While you guys are away, we left a little…trap back at your home. By now the people are being attacked even as we speak. They won't survive." He needed to get this information to the others!

"Then…the last one?"

"…It just shows you how you will die," she said easily. "Overwhelmed by the power of darkness, your light weakened by the power flowing through the library. I knew you would come here, long before you ever arrived. Probably before you were even born."

"How…old are you?" Mickey asked. He couldn't help it, the girl seemed more and more like a grown woman than a child. She knew too much, probably conspired most of what happened.

"It's impolite to ask a girl's age," she said standing up from the chair and actually taking the time to push it back in place as if she weren't surrounded by three grown men. "I have other abilities, you know," she said turning to face them again. "I can play with memories."

Mickey turned to his friends quickly. The light overhead seemed to flash and leave them in darkness for a second before coming on again. Mickey found himself staring at Donald as there was no one else there beside him. He breathed a sigh of relief though somewhere in the pit of his stomach he felt like something was amiss. Was something missing? He looked at Donald but the other just shrugged his shoulder. He was apparently at a loss as well.

"I can remove a person from a memory enough that those that try to think about that person can't remember them, even if they'd only just met them. As long as they don't see them, they will continue to forget." Mickey frowned at the words. Had the girl removed someone from their memories? No, he didn't remember coming with anyone else. They'd walked down the corridor easily, just the two of them. There was no danger to them yet.

"I can rewrite memories as well if a person was touched by the darkness. I can rewrite history the way I want it to begin, and I can rewrite the future to the way I want it to end." She paused smirking and waiting for the two of them to look at her before she laughed. "I can even bring a person back to life that shouldn't be alive."

When she said the words, Mickey felt the air of a sword pass by him before he had the time to move away. He turned around quickly calling forth his keyblade only to see darkness. Something brushed across his fingers and his reached out by reflex to grab it. What he felt shocked him as he touched the feather remembering a time of someone that carried a sword and one wing like what angel's possessed. His blood felt like it was running cold even as he thought about who it was they were facing.

"Sephiroth…"

TBC…

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And then this and that happened and stuff. lol and if you can't tell, I'm just randomly typing crap cause yeah...dun really have anything to say? Anyways, hope you enjoyed!


	61. Princely Garbs 61

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: And the second update of the day. I think you guys will be pretty content for this month.

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Princely Garbs 61

Zack moved quietly down the corridor he'd somehow been tricked into taking. Ok, so maybe he wasn't tricked necessarily but he had a feeling this was nothing but a dead end. It kind of sucked being by alone considering everyone else was in a group. Sure, he could handle himself but still, there wasn't anyone to talk to at all. It was boring being by himself and also kind of creepy.

He went to the very end before he found, just as he expected, a dead end.

"I just knew this was the dead end route!" He turned around looking at the darkness behind him, before the smirk lifted to his lips. "You sure are taking your time making yourself known, aren't you?" He knew someone was following him, he'd been feeling it since he'd first started walking this path. "Why not come on out and introduce yourself."

"Hm…" The figure materialized from the darkness in front of him wearing the dark robes he was so used to seeing now. It was female by the sound of the voice and the shape of the snug robes. Zack was already calling out his keyblade. He never took any chances when it came to these particular hooded figured. Compared to these guys, the Organization was child's play. Xehanort picked his people perfectly, always had and always will.

"I guess you caught on to me."

"I guess I did," Zack replied giving a little smile. "You sound too cute to be all covered up. Why not give us a little show."

"I don't know. Can I trust you not to laugh?"

Zack chuckled at the words. "Only if you promise not to treat me too badly."

"Hmm." She sounded pretty amused which was evident on her smiling lips, about all he could see of her really. She reached up unzipping the front of the robes before letting the whole robe slide to the floor.

Zack whistled loudly checking out what he was up against. "Just as I expected, you're gorgeous." And it was true. The girl was drop dead beautiful from the long black hair to the perfect assessments. She apparently liked showing off her midriff by the way her dress was cut, not that Zack was complaining at all. Xehanort obviously knew how to pick his girls, though that wasn't necessarily because of the looks. This girl was obviously dangerous even though Zack couldn't figure out how yet. "What's your name? I know you don't want me calling you pretty girl all night."

"Shouldn't you tell me your name first, sir?" She tilted her head staring at him looking all the more amused at his playfulness. Oh yeah, this was his type of girl. A shame she had to be the enemy.

"Zack."

"Tifa."

"Tifa…it fits you." He watched the girl with long black hair crouch down in place looking at him. What he initially thought was a dress was turning out to be some weird sort of pants…that looked like a dress. She seemed comfortable in them, though, and the flat shoes which mean her movements would be flawless. So what was her specialty?

The girl reminded him of the stories he'd heard about sirens, dangerous but beautiful and able to lead a man to his death. She made him think of that because he time he looked at her he felt like he should be mesmerized by her. But he wouldn't be falling for that trick.

"So…you ready for this dance?"

"Only if you are."

"I was born ready," Zack said holding out his arm and wiggling his fingers in a "come hither" motion. "Come dance with me." He grinned watching how the girl's eyes flickered to his fingers.

"Hmm…with pleasure." She was running before he even had a chance to register her movements. Out of instinct, he was able to block her attack, but just barely as a lock of his hair floated down from where she'd just kicked at him.

"Whoa," he exclaimed stumbling back at bit. "Looks like I'm still a bit rusty."

"Then I'll help knock the kinks out," she replied foot moving rapid fire towards his face as she kept her balance on one foot while trying to deal a deadly blow to his head with the other. "You need to stay still for me to help you though."

"No thanks," Zack said pushing the flat side of the keyblade to her foot flipping her backwards. She landed easily, legs spread and hand pressed to the ground in front of her to keep her balance. He whistled at the impressive move making her look up at him and grin.

"It's not nice to treat a lady like that."

"Sorry, I've never been very good at treating an enemy nicely, lady or not."

"I think Xehanort would have had a lot of fun with you," she said pushing up to stand and bouncing slightly form foot to foot. It wasn't the only thing to bounce though. Zack found himself averting his eyes, focusing on her face, her hands, her feet, everything he considered dangerous. "Too bad he decided to use another toy."

An alarming spark went down Zack's spine as the smile left his face to be replaced by a frown. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I'm sure you already have an idea of what I mean." She tilted her head to the side in a sort of charming way as she stared at him. "Now let's play some more."

"Fine," he said losing a lot of the playfulness he had before worried that the others were in danger. "But only if you answer my questions."

"I will if you keep me satisfied." She ran up doing a spin kick towards his head and he ducked his head to the side so the foot sailed overhead. "I don't like being bored." When she smirked and did it again with her other foot, Zack reached up grabbing the leg and stopping the movement, squeezing hard enough to make her wince even though she didn't stop smiling.

"Then I'll work you so hard you'll never complain about being bored again."

"I like the sound of that." She kicked her other foot up wrapping it around his arm and rolled her body so that she was flipping him to the ground and rolling to her feet so quick all he could do was blink and lay there.

Stars circled around his head thanks to the ground's hard rock. When he looked up, the girl was grinning at him standing over him as if she dominated the world. In a way, he sort of felt like she did. This girl was super strong, stronger than any man he'd ever fought.

"Take good care of me," she said wiggling her fingers at him. "Be gentle."

"Gentle," he panted rolling his eyes and slowly pushing himself to his feet, getting ready for the next onslaught of attacks as she prepared herself. "Riiight." He may have just gotten more than he bargained for. Thanks a bunch, Xehanort, for sending angels with sharp claws to kill them.

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"Got any plans?"

"I'm thinking." Roxas frowned staring at the goop covering the door Sora had ran through. His dad had tried but even he couldn't pass through the goop. He and Ansem both said that just getting near the stuff made it feel like they could get sucked in.

On top of that, the whole room was covered in the stuff now. There was no exit, no escape. They were literally trapped.

"Even the floor feels pretty gross right now," Ansem said lifting a foot and looking at the ground like it would come through at any moment. "I think that stuff is below us too."

"So we're stuck here," Roxas said looking to the ceiling for answers. "Is there no way out?"

"You could use the light," Tsunami said coming to stand beside him again. "But it might turn into a wasted effort depending on how thick this stuff is."

"Right now, you're the only one who can use the light." Ansem frowned. "And we saw how ineffective two keybladers were against it." He sighed resting his hands behind his back. "I had no idea Riku's darkness was this strong. If he had married Namine…who knows how that would have ended."

"Wait…Namine?" Roxas frowned remembering her name mentioned once before. Sephiroth had spoken it in their final battle, right?

"Yes. She's Sephiroth's daughter."

"I thought he said she wasn't real. That he just made her up to get to Riku."

"Well that can't be possible." Ansem huffed. "You think I'd have my grandson married to just anyone without checking the wellbeing of that person first? I've met the girl several times. She's a very solid girl even if her father isn't." At the look Roxas gave him he cleared his throat explaining it clearly. "She was adopted."

"Oooh. Then couldn't he have been making up the wedding just to get to Riku?"

"…It's possible."

"Guys. Focus." Tsunami was inspecting one of the walls before looking up at the ceiling where goop was dripping down, hissing as it hit the floor. "This might be a weak spot." He pointed to the wall while avoiding the dripping stuff.

"Why do you say that?" Roxas walked over curiously.

"Because it looks thinner somehow, like it's not spreading out too well."

"Hm…" Roxas walked over observing it. "Let me try something." Roxas called the keyblade to his hand staring at the wall. He took the end of the keyblade and shoved it into the goop before the two men could properly utter a protest. Not that Roxas even listened. He was too busy staring at the wall, holding the hilt before he sent a rush of light into the keyblade in one big explosion.

The goop started to bubble around where he'd stuck the end of the keyblade. The more light he used, the more the sticky darkness started to bubble.

"Get ready to run," Roxas said keeping his focus on the goop.

"Why?" Ansem asked.

"Because it's getting ready to open." He really hoped a door was located here, otherwise they were screwed. He was already getting tired, using more and more of his light to get it to work. The others didn't ask anything else, just watching and waiting to rush in. He saw the opening starting to appear as the goop was being pushed away. "Get ready." The goop struggled a moment long before the light spread pushing it open, wider and wider until it was big enough to fit bodies through. "Run!" He ran and even though he could only hear his footfalls, he knew his dad and Ansem were right behind him. When he looked back he saw the opening closing rapidly blocking out what little light they had and pushing them completely into darkness.

"Everyone here?" He heard the faint sound of whispering and frowned. Right, they weren't as close to their bodies now. That must have been the reason he'd been able to hear his father and Ansem so clearly. But he could hear them better than he had before the whole, finding the goop, thing.

Roxas held out his hand lighting up the way again. His light seemed feeble to him but of course he knew it was because he'd used up more than half his power just to get them out of the room. His visor still worked but it was hazy, static shaking across the screen and buzzing in his ears to the point he turned the sound off.

He held up the light looking ahead. There was nothing ahead of them but darkness. Still he started walking, though only after he was able to confirm that the other two were with him. They seemed vague to him but they were still there. For some reason he felt like time was working against them, like he needed to get the two of them back in their bodies soon or else they'd really lose their lives.

For a moment he wondered how many people had already lost their lives while waiting to be freed. How many people had Xehanort killed to strengthen the darkness? How many more people will die just for him to reach his goal? What was he even working towards?

He heard footsteps heading in his direction and froze in place. Tsunami stopped and looked at him before he went off ahead into the darkness. The footfalls didn't stop but Tsunami was back before he knew it, leaning close so he could be heard.

"There's a girl heading this way. I can't really see her completely though." Roxas nodded his head. He remembered Sora telling him all he could see was shadows of everyone. Regardless, there were no girls in their group currently here, which meant this had to be one of Xehanort's men…women….

He called free the keyblade pushing the light into it as he used it to light up the path. He was tired, his keyblade fading in and out weakly. He didn't have enough energy left to him to fight anymore.

"Careful," Ansem said on his left and he nodded, panting slightly as he stared ahead. The outline of a shadow appeared first entering into the small ring of light along the wall. He gripped the keyblade harder watching as the hooded girl came into view. She stopped just inside the ring of light, looking up at him looking more innocent than he'd have expected. But he wasn't allowing himself to get tricked again and didn't lower his guard. He'd seen how Xehanort made Sora act. He could do it again.

"Who are you?" Roxas asked her, wiggling the keyblade to let her know he meant business. If she didn't give him an answer he liked, he would attack. He wasn't against attacking a girl if it meant saving his life.

"My name's Yuffie," she said looking at him and giving a soft smile. "I'm…uh…a family friend." His visor flashed some information across the screen, but even that proved useless as it was only powerful enough to repeat the name she'd just said before flashing weakly. Roxas let the visor disappear since it was currently useless, but he didn't take his eyes off the mysterious girl.

"…A family friend how?" Roxas asked slowly, looking at her suspiciously. Ansem said something in his ear about finding out where Leon or Riku might be and Roxas nodded his head slightly to indicate he heard him.

"Careful," Ansem said looking at Roxas. "This girl used to work in the Radiant Garden army, but she went missing a good while back." While the ghost of a man fluttered past Yuffie staring at her suspiciously, unseen and unheard, Roxas kept his blue eyes on the girl, watching every move she made.

"I'm a friend of Sora's…or was," she said sounding desperate. "Anyway, forget about all that. You have to come with me. Leon and Cloud are in danger."

"What makes you think I trust you?"

"Because if you don't, Leon and Cloud are going to die. And Sora will too."

"…." Roxas frowned. On the one hand this could be a trap he was walking into. On the other hand, he'd at least know where Leon was. Still…she said Cloud's name and Sora's too, who he knew was in dangerous but he wasn't able to get to him. How was Cloud here when he was supposed to be back at Kingdom Hearts? "…You said Cloud is here?"

She blinked before nodding her head. "Yeah. We brought him here."

"You brought him here from Kingdom Hearts?" She nodded again. "How did you infiltrate Kingdom Hearts, a place filled with light? Are you guys still there now? Are you guys attacking my friends?!"

"I'm not here to fight!" She yelled out quickly. "I made a mistake. A very big mistake. But I can't fix it by myself." She went down to her knees cupping her hands together above her head as she looked up at him before she looked down. "Please…help me save them. Help me with at least that much. You can do what you want with me afterwards, but please help them."

"…Fine. But you're going to tell me everything I want to know."

"I'll tell you anything you want to know on the way there." She stood up and started to walk towards him but he held the keyblade up towards her. "Turn and start walking." The light must have played tricks on him because for a moment he thought he saw a smirk on her lips. But in the next instance she was walking, heading down the hallway leaving him to follow after her at a steady pace. If she was trying to trick him, he would be ready for it. It was getting harder and harder for him to know who he could and couldn't trust. But if it meant he could save his brother then he'd do whatever it took.

"You better not be lying to me."

"I'm not!" She yelled out turning her head to look at him. "Trust me!"

"Just keep moving," he said gesturing with his keyblade for her to keep walking.

TBC….

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Oh yeah and still working on the next chapter. We'll how quickly that gets updated x.x Yeah...


	62. Princely Garbs 62

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: And probably the last chapter of the year since I'll be going out of town like...today x.x and the fact I'm barely started on the next chapter. Um...Meery Christmas! Uh...here's your gift! Yeah, that'll work! :D

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Princely Garbs 62

"You do trust me, don't you?" Riku asked leaning closer to the young keyblader.

"I…" Sora clenched his eyes shut forcefully pushing the older male back. "S-Stop it!"

"Sora?"

"Stop pretending and give him back! Give me back Riku!" Sora yelled calling his keyblade out as he glared at the imposter. "Xehanort!"

"Heh…. So you do have some self-restraint." Xehanort smirked focusing on Sora and his keyblade. "You came close to being swayed by my acting. What gave it away, boy?"

"None of your business! All you need to know is I'm bringing Riku back no matter what!"

"Mmm, amusing words for a follower of the light," Xehanort said laughing at him as he sat down crossing his legs ignoring his threat. "For a moment I thought I could convert you to my cause like I did your friend." Sora assumed he was talking about Riku and it made him even angrier.

"You didn't convert him. You're a thief!"

"A thief?" Xehanort laughed at that. "I'm only utilizing what was being wasted. This boy had no idea what lay in his hands, this…this power." Xehanort looked down at the hands, Riku's hands. "Why waste what could be put to good use?"

"Because it doesn't belong to you. Now give him back!" Furious with the being in front of him, Sora started to summon the light inside of him. If Xehanort wouldn't leave willingly, he'd force him to leave.

Sora didn't know it happened, or when it happened. All he knew was that Xehanort was in front of him, holding him up by the front of his shirt against the wall, high enough that his feet didn't touch the ground. He hadn't even prepared for the action and found he could only stare in shock, gagging at the tightness of his shirt around his neck.

"You are an accomplice in my plans," Xehanort said to him staring up at him with a smirk. He didn't even seem to struggle as he held the boy's weight. "Already it is too late for you to turn back. Already it is too late for you to change the outcome."

He dropped the young keyblader letting him cough as he rubbed at his neck where the shirt had been digging in. He rubbed his throat glaring up at Xehanort's back as the other turned away from him again. His hand tightened around the keyblade but he found it hard to move, hard to attack Xehanort's back since it belonged to Riku.

"You won't be able to attack me, boy," Xehanort said not even turning around to look at him, using Riku's voice which only infuriated the young prince even more. "That's why I picked you." Xehanort turned around looking at Sora with a hint of a smug grin to his lips. "Because you'll continue to linger at the thought that you can save him, even though you can't. You can't save him. Even a god can't save him."

Sora started to approach him, or at least he tried to approach him but his body wouldn't move. No it wasn't because of any certain feelings. It was because his feet were bounded to the floor by the same goop that surrounded the bodies of the people stolen by darkness.

"You'll need to stay put a bit longer," Xehanort said as the goop starting travelling quickly up Sora's body. It didn't feel like any object, but more like the air itself was keeping him from moving. And this darkness belonged to Riku? "I am not ready for your use quite yet. First I need to use the keys here to open the door."

"Nnngh…what…door?" Sora asked grunting as he tried to free himself. Nothing was working, not a single thing. The smelly pile of goop was travelling up over his neck now.

"That…you don't need to worry about. You'll just have to come find me to find out." Xehanort turned smiling and staring at him giving him a look that only Riku should have been able to do, a look that should not have been toyed with. It hit Sora hard in the pit of his stomach, even as the stuff was covering over his mouth, his nose, his hair. He didn't think anything could bother him as much as that did. And then the words, "Goodbye, Sora," reached his ears before they too were cast inside the pillar of solid darkness.

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Leon waited until Yuffie had left before he tried to slide over towards Cloud. He disregarded the chains, moving as close to Cloud as possible, in all honestly wanting to reach out and hold him. But he couldn't…this was the best he could do.

"Cloud…"

"Mm…" Cloud shifted a bit, apparently hearing the name before he stilled again.

Licking his lips, Leon glanced towards in the direction Yuffie had taken before he tried again, louder this time. "Cloud. Cloud, wake up."

Cloud breathed heavily, eyes fluttering open before he tried to sit up slowly. He winced when he did move but still he sat up before looking at him. "Leon…" He was still bruised from the abuse of Yuffie's onslaught earlier, evident even more when he reached up holding a hand against his chest. He looked confused, which Leon couldn't blame him if he'd been kidnapped.

Cloud looked down at the chains hooking wrist to neck and ankles before looking at Leon again. "Leon…where are we?" He blinked even more confused looking at Leon. "And what are you doing here? Didn't you go to Magic Kingdom?"

So that's what Seifer and the others came up with. A lot of good that did if Cloud was here right now instead of safe in Kingdom Hearts.

Leon shook his head. It didn't matter now. "Are you ok? Are you hurting anywhere?"

"Yeah, just a few bruises," Cloud said and actually gave him a small smile that eased over any worries Leon had. Leon breathed out in relief before offering him a little smile as well. "You still haven't said where we are."

"We're in Xehanort's tower," Leon said seeing the frown lift to Cloud's face. "Apparently, you were kidnapped."

"Yeah…I saw Yuffie," He said frowning as he looked at Leon. "But I only just remembered her when I saw her."

"Yeah, the same thing happened to me. I think a spell was put on everyone that knew her." Leon shifted a bit, the chains rattling but he'd gotten sort of used to it by now. "I have a question for you."

"Hm?" Cloud blinked at him and nodded for him to keep going.

"Have you…ever been to a place called Terra?"

"Terra?" Cloud frowned slightly and shook his head. "I've never heard of the place. Where is it at?"

"…Far away from here," Leon said. "Do you remember anything about your childhood?"

"…I don't," Cloud said sounding a bit confused by all the questions. "I remember being in Kingdom Hearts as an orphan and being allowed to become a soldier for the kingdom thanks to Zack."

"…." Leon frowned. He didn't like that Cloud's memories were being played with like this. From what he could gather Xehanort must have either lied about Cloud being at Terra, or he messed with Cloud's memories so he forgot. The same must have happened with the attack on King Tsunami back when Kingdom Hearts fell. Was Xehanort the one controlling the lost Cloud then too?

"Cloud," Leon said gaining the other's attention again. It looked like the blond was about to fall asleep before then. "We need to escape from here."

"I doubt that will be easy," he said and lifted up his chained hands to show him why. That was true…these chains were no joke. Without a key, or a keyblader, they were screwed.

"…Let me show you something." Cloud stared at him questioningly but the brunet just gave a confident smile before he closed his eyes. He concentrated, calling forth power, magic he hadn't used since the last attack on Sephiroth. He knew his body was surrounded in the blue light and he opened his eyes seeing the startled look on Cloud's face before he smiled. He knew his eyes were glowing blue too, something you'd normally never see unless you were on Terra.

"Leon, are you-"

"I'm fine." Leon stopped him before he could ask, pulling more of the blue light to radiate from his body like flames. "Do you remember seeing anything like this before?"

"I…it does look…familiar." Cloud's eyebrows went down in thought. "What is it?"

"The blue flames of Terra," Leon said staring at him and finding the curious look on Cloud's face nice. "Similar to the keybladers, it's something rare that not everyone can use. Normally I'll use it for attacks but you can really do anything with it, including strengthening your own body. Only people from Terra can use it. Only select people from my home city can use it."

"So…you're from Terra?" Cloud asked staring up at his eyes. It bothered him that he couldn't read the motion on Cloud's face. Was he angry? Was he hurt to have been lied to all this time? To find out that the man that loved him wasn't even from this world?

"Yeah…my real name is Squall."

"Squall…" Cloud said testing out the name before he smiled at him. "I like it." And why did that just make his heart stomp on his chest? Leon felt his cheeks heat up and glanced away, his flames growing a bit more around him. The flames were affected by emotion after all. He liked the way Cloud said his real name. He liked hearing it on his lips. It sounded…special.

He held the flames longer letting Cloud take in the sight of it before he released it, the blue flames and the glow of his eyes slowly returning to the greyish color. "…You can use it too."

"Huh? But…didn't you just say-"

"Yeah…that people from my home city can use it." He stared at Cloud, taking some satisfaction in how Cloud darted his eyes away before slowly looking at him again, cheeks reddening. "Cloud…you're from Terra." Even though he wasn't one hundred percent sure of it, something told him that what Yuffie had told him was true.

"I'm…what?" Now he really was staring.

"You're from my world…from my home city." Leon shifted, really getting irritated with these chains. They were uncomfortable…but when were chains meant to be comfortable anyway? "Cloud, you're like me. You can use Terra's flames. You can use the Lifestream."

"…I don't understand what you're saying. I'm from Gaia. I mean there's no way I -"

"…Come here."

"Huh?!" Cloud was staring at him like he was crazy now. "I-I'm chained down, I can't just-"

"Just slide as close as you can. The chains are long enough that you can reach me if you come." And indeed they were, with Leon being stretched out to his limit now. Cloud bit his lips glancing around a moment before he nodded.

"Ok." He moved then, the actions making him wince as he tried crawling closer. The chains, just like Leon's, were heavy. They dragged him down, made his movements sluggish, more so because of the bruises to his body. But he came, one grueling inch at a time. Cloud reached his chains out as far as he could before it stopped him from moving closer.

Before Leon could even tell him to do anything he was reaching up, touching Cloud's cheek with a delicate hand neither male knew he possessed. The skin was soft under his fingers and he found himself brushing his thumb across a bruise on his cheek. Cloud didn't seem to mind the touch, instead moving into it as he closed his eyes letting out a sigh.

Leon wanted to kiss him, he really did but the amount of chain space he had around his neck wouldn't allow it. As he said before, he was at his limit. He couldn't move further and he doubted he had the energy to move back either.

So he was surprised when Cloud looked up at him and leaned in the few inches between them to kiss his lips, his chains being just long enough for that. The kiss washed away a lot of his worries as he reached down resting his hand over Cloud's on the floor. He broke the kiss pulling back staring at the closed eyes that slowly fluttered open to stare back in return.

"You are…compatible to me," Leon said slowly, reaching up and brushing his fingers across the wet lips. "My flames can't hurt you." As he said the words he pulled his fingers away showing Cloud the blue flames that he'd just had pressed up against Cloud's lips unnoticed. "But they can protect you."

"Then…the flames you say I possess."

"They won't hurt me either. The flames will never hurt the ones close to you. The flames will always protect the one closest to your heart." Leon felt himself staring at Cloud, seeing the blue glow of the Lifestream in Cloud's eyes. This felt familiar to him. He felt as if he'd met Cloud once before on Terra. As if he'd seen him once when they were both younger…as if he were someone of importance to him, even then. Why couldn't he remember parts of his past? Did Xehanort play with those too?

"I see my pets still have time to play together." Leon didn't move his hand but he did turn his head, glaring at the sound voice, a voice that shouldn't have caused the anger it did now.

"Xehanort," he said growling deep in his throat.

Cloud slid back enough so that he was able to push himself up to stand. He struggled with the action and Leon really wanted to keep him closer to protect him. He felt so helpless right now. It worried Leon that Cloud was still nursing his chest which might have been nothing more than a bruised rib.

"Leon…Cloud…" Xehanort nodded his head to both of them in greeting chuckling at the look on their faces. "You don't act happy to see me."

"I can't be happy with seeing someone toying with my prince's body," the commander said as he slowly pushed up to stand to his feet as well. He wasn't about to stay on his knees for this man, heavy chains or not. This was not his prince. This was an imposter.

"Regardless, you are still in the presence of royalty," Xehanort said looking at his nails as if he could care less about their words. "You should really kneel at the first sight of me." Leon could feel the darkness invading his body. He tried to fight it but the darkness overpowered him as it pushed him to his knees in front of the stolen body. The grunt beside him let him know the same had been done to Cloud as well. He swallowed, clenching his hand tightly to hold his anger in check.

They were powerless against this man, this man who was using their prince's body and darkness freely.

"There, that's better." Xehanort lifted his foot placing it on top of Leon's head and pushing it down till his nose hit the floor and the muscles in his back tightened in discomfort. "Are you ready to perform your next task?"

"Go die." He coughed feeling the band around his neck tighten as the chains tried to pull him back.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Leon!" He could hear the chains moving and only assumed Cloud was trying to move closer to him, since he wasn't able at look at him at the moment.

"You shouldn't treat your master so rudely," Xehanort said letting him lift his head making him fall backwards and pull at the banding able to breathe again. Leon panted glaring up at the man, eyes red and teary from trying to breathe. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. I still need the two of you to open the door." He walked between the two men walking to a particular spot and it was like the walls all around them lit up something. Leon learned there weren't any doors here which confused him considering Yuffie had to have left out some way.

"I'm sure you already heard all about the door to Terra," Xehanort said not turning around even as circles appeared beneath both Cloud and Leon. Look stared down at it, seeing all sorts of symbols etched inside it. He could feel the etching with his fingers, like paint over a cool glass. The circle he stood on was white while the one that lay beneath Cloud was black. It confused him and made him feel even more suspicious of Xehanort as he stared at the man's back.

"What do you want to go to Terra for?" Cloud asked making Leon glance over at him. That's right. Cloud hadn't really been coherent during that whole exchange with Yuffie. But then again they hadn't really learned a lot of things from Yuffie. This would be their chance of getting answers.

"To open up the doors there that lead to all the worlds."

"And once that's done?" Leon asked him. "Do you plan on taking over those worlds and filling them with darkness?"

"I plan on destroying those worlds."

"Wait, you can't mean-"

"We're starting the next process now," Xehanort said finally turning around to look at them, looking less like Riku as he started to look older to him for some reason.

"Wait! Explain-ah!" His whole body jolted as if he'd just been struck by lightning. His body was taunt, his arms and legs stretched out to his side. He was floating now off the ground, Terra's flames flowing out of his body and all around him. The pain lasted a moment longer before it went away and he was able to move his limbs if not his whole body the way he wanted.

The first thing he did when he found he could move again was look over at Cloud to see if he was ok. The other male was fine, it seemed, staring down at the ground in surprised before looking over in Leon's direction. They stared at each other for a moment before Leon started to take in other things around his second in command.

The Lifestream flowed around Cloud's body glowing brightly. It didn't leave the encasement of the circle which had formed a barrier around him. Leon had the same situation with his Lifestream doing what it wanted and being barred behind the shield of light outlining the circle. The symbols in Leon's circle glowed a bright white light while the symbols in Cloud's glow with darkness and a more purplish color. Everything that looked light in Leon's circle felt dark in Cloud's.

Losing so much of the Lifestream in their bodies wasn't a good thing. While it wasn't possible to use all of the Lifestream on Terra, what would happen if he used it all while here on Gaia? He'd already used a good deal of it while fighting Sephiroth. He didn't want to imagine that outcome. They needed to get out of this mess some kind of way.

"Nnngh!" The shock to his body happened again and he opened his eyes seeing even more of the Lifestream flowing around him. He couldn't tell if the haziness he saw was from the glowing blue flames or from losing so much of said flames.

"The door's appearing," Xehanort said and when Leon looked towards Cloud he saw the door appearing, as big and as grand as the Door to Light. It looked very similar, the only different being the two empty lanterns hanging on the sides of the door. Well, to be honest, the lantern closest to him had some of the Lifestream inside. So that's how he was doing this? He was going to use their Lifestream to open up Terra's door.

The barriers surrounding them were starting to crack from all the pressure the Lifestream was putting on them. He could see the old man that was supposed to be Xehanort now. It was only a quick glance before the form that was Riku had returned. Was that the real Xehanort?

"The Lifestream," Xehanort said standing in front of Cloud and looking up at his helpless form. "The power your people call Terra Flames…it is a power composed of the spirits of the dead. When a person dies, their spirit flees the corpse to become part of the Lifestream, and so in this way they can be reborn again. Terra is made of the Lifestream and so would die if it lost the stream that kept it alive. The same goes for people that can use those flames." Leon frowned. Where was Xehanort going with this?

"If a person uses up all of their Lifestream, they'll die. And if they weren't on Terra at the time of death, their spirit would be completely snuffed out." He smirked at his words staring over at Leon. "Therefore, once I have all of your Lifestream, I will have very little to worry about from the two of you."

"Xehanort!" Leon glared at him, tried to move towards him but of course it was useless.

"I needed the Lifestream to be of two kinds. One of pure light," Xehanort said looking at him before his eyes turned to Cloud. "And one of pure darkness." And it was true. The Lifestream flowing around Cloud's body seemed much darker than Leon's brighter blue. "It is not easy to make such a dark Lifestream…not without slaughtering living beings wherever they may be."

"Xehanort…." Was that why Cloud was forced to attack Wutai or Kingdom Hearts? Why he was forced to stab Tsunami and later Sora? Had this been all part of Xehanort's plan from the beginning to return to Terra after he'd obtained Riku's darkness?

"Any last words?"

Leon stared right at him as he opened his mouth. "Go to he-ahh!" The shock came too soon, too much by surprise for him to be prepared for it.

"Oops, too late. Fair well, Terra men." Terra's door opened a crack, just enough that Xehanort was able to turn and slip inside without a problem. But Leon was having other problems to worry about. The last of his Lifestream was flowing out of him, the barrier around him cracking before it shattered, his power being sucked up like a vacuum into the lantern. His vision was blurred to him as he was dropped down to the ground, the chains around him letting him be free again.

Well it wasn't like that mattered much now…there was no point in trying to escape something this inevitable. He looked up when he saw Cloud's body drop down to the ground. Open blue eyes started at him blankly and Leon felt his vision blurring from a completely different reason now.

"Cloud…"

He couldn't feel his legs, could barely even feel his arms that he was using to pull himself along the floor. It was slow moving despite his urgency to get to the man he loved. He paused at one moment, coughing and panting hard catching a breath he could barely keep. His vision was darkening around the edges but he kept moving, kept pulling himself towards the unmoving body. The door to Terra lay open beside him but he ignored it except to glance at the other lantern that held Cloud's dark flames.

Cloud didn't even blank and Leon felt his breath catching in his throat. He had to swallow it though, pulling along slowly making his way to the male. He made it just barely, reaching out and touching the other's fingers as the two of them laid there. He couldn't move anymore. He had no more energy to spare. No…he had a little bit. His flame that he fought with all his might to keep. He kept it for this one reason.

He looked up, only able to see just barely out the center of one of his eyes as he started at Cloud. The other's face looked pale but he couldn't tell if his fingers were cold or not. He couldn't feel anything anymore. Giving a sigh, he pushed hard, pushed all of that light into the other's hand. Whether it did anything or not was another thing since he couldn't feel. Though he thought for a moment he felt the other's fingers twitch, that he had felt warmth entering him. Then his vision faded from his eyes and he saw nothing but darkness.

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TBC….

And I'll probably get beat up for this chapter but uh…nine pages long? I mean that's really an accomplishment for me, ya know? Have a good Xmas and New Year's and all that stuff!


	63. Princely Garbs 63

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Yay first new year update! Happy New Stuff! ...and stuff! :D

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Princely Garbs 63

"Whoa!" Tidus jumped back as a something heavy swung out in front of him dunking into the ground. Not bothering to look at it, he quickly jumped over it, heading further down the corridor before looking back being followed by Auron and his deadly sword.

But he knew what to do. He was the distraction, he and Wakka both. Selphie stood with Kairi being her second eyes and ears. The plan was simple if not a complete headache. So far using the same tactics they'd saved everyone in the Organization except for Larxene and Demyx who were missing. While the others had been deposited in the safest place from the darkness, near the Door to Light with other refugees, Tidus and Wakka were in charge of luring Auron and Seifer, which was what they were doing now.

This was the critical part here. As he ran into the courtyard, he saw Wakka come out of the exit opposite of him. The two of them looked at each other before going into hiding. With so many bushes and stone artworks, it wasn't terribly hard.

He admitted he almost jumped out of his hiding place when he saw the shadowed Seifer walk by. If it hadn't been for Wakka grabbing his arm, he would have. Tidus needed to be patient. He would be reunited with his boyfriend soon enough.

Kairi must have spotted one of the medallion-wearing heartless because the next thing he knew, he saw white light fly past where they were hitting into the heatless. Another shot of light flew overhead to hit another heartless. It must have been the correct one because Auron fell to his knees as the darkness flew from his body in a smoky haze. That was how they learned earlier that the heartless wearing the medallions were controlling everyone.

"Auron?" Tidus stepped out from his hiding place, Wakka behind him as he moved quietly towards the kneeling body.

"Nngh…" Auron looked up at them holding a hand to his head and looking tired, swallowing. "What…just happened?"

"Good," Tidus sighed out looking relieved as he smiled at him. "You're ok."

"What happened?"

"You were taken over by the darkness, ya," Wakka said folding his arm across his chest. "We had to knock out those little heartless suckers to get you guys back to normal."

"Nngh…Seifer…" Auron sat up pushing to his feet swaying slightly. "Seifer was…" He stumbled and it took both boys to help hold the man up.

"Whoa whoa, relax. It's taken care of now. We stopped the darkness from taking over so Seifer should be-"

"No…he was…nngh…acting funny before that," Auron pulled from them using his sword to lean on for support, panting. He was tired, as had the others been when they'd first returned to normal. "Where is he? Where is Seifer?"

At the mention of Seifer's whereabouts, Tidus looked around quickly. Seifer wasn't anywhere in sight. He didn't know what Auron was talking about but he was worried as he ran off towards where he'd seen him last. The other was kneeling down, panting but looking just as normal as always.

Tidus slowed down for a moment, staring at the strong back, at the same back he'd been following for years before he rushed towards him quickly. "Seifer!" The other only had time to lift his head at his name before Tidus slammed into him from behind hiding him tightly while also making the two of them collapse to the ground.

"Ugh! Get off! You're heavy!"

"Seifer, you're ok!"

"Move it, dummy." Tidus sat up, smiling brightly as Seifer turned around to look up at him frowning. He couldn't help it, bawling his eyes out like a little baby as he held onto him. "I thought I'd lost you!"

"W-Wait, are you crying?!" Seifer looked shocked but really Tidus couldn't tell with his eyes blurred the way they were. He felt the older male rest a hand on top of his head and pull him closer, leaning in to connect their lips together. He shivered, staring at him with water filled eyes before leaning in to kiss him deeper. He reached up grabbing his hair at one moment then sliding his hands down across cheeks, shoulders, and chest, just anything to know that this was real. Seifer was alive.

"Seifer…" He broke the kiss panting just holding onto him, staring at him as if he were afraid of him disappearing again. "You're here, right?"

"Yeah I'm here…I don't know what happened but I'm here."

"The darkness…" Tidus sniffed with his nose all wet and runny. "You and the others got controlled by the darkness."

"That's right…that stuff." Seifer frowned looking down at his arms as if he expected to see the darkness there. "How'd you guys stop it?"

"We…killed all the heartless running around the castle." Tidus used his sleeve to wipe at his eyes and his nose. "They had these weird medallions on and…"

"It's still there…" Tidus blinked as he felt Seifer's muscles tense under his fingers. "I can still feel it…I can still hear him…"

"Huh?"

"...I need to go."

"You can't! You just-"

Seifer pushed him away as he started to stand to his feet. He slipped slightly holding the side of the wall to keep from falling him. He was panting hard and the area around his neck, the area he was holding with his hand was growing darkness. But darkness inside was growing but…they defeated it didn't they?

"Seifer?" Tidus blinked before he moved walking beside him trying to help him. "Where are you going?" When he reached out, Seifer quickly slapped his hand away looking at him startled.

"You need to get away from me."

"What? But we just-"

"Nngh." Seifer fingers clenched digging into the skin of his neck drawing blood. "Listen to me," he said stopping and looking at Tidus, panting out of breath. He was too weak, too weak to fight anything it seemed. "Go."

"W-What?"

"I said go!"

"I can't! Seifer, I can't leave you behind!"

"I can't hurt you! So go! Before the darkness-nnngh!" Seifer dropped down to his knees holding both his hands over his ears as if trying to block out some irritating noise. Darkness was starting to spread over his body.

"Seifer!" Tidus dropped down in front of him quickly wrapping his arms around him.

"Idiot, let go!" Despite the words, Seifer sounded panicked. The darkness was waving out of his cut like tentacles. It startled Tidus when one wrapped around his arm but he didn't move. Seifer tried to fight to loosen Tidus's hold but he was too weak against Tidus's vice grip.

"Let go!"

"I won't!"

"Tidus, you moron, let go! You'll be trapped in it too!"

"I don't care!" Tidus hugged him tight clenching his eyes shut. "I can't live without you! I…I-I love you too much to let that happen again! Seifer…please…" Tidus's grip loosened around him but he continued to hold on. He felt Seifer's body tense under him at the words before he relaxed.

"…Heh." Seifer turned when Tidus's grip went lax and the young male thought Seifer was about to push him away. But the older male surprised him, wrapping his arms around a startled Tidus as he fell on his back holding the younger boy close.

When Tidus lifted his head to look down at him he felt his cheeks grow hot. The smile on Seifer's face looked overjoyed. He'd never seen that kind of expression on Seifer's face before. And the look in his eyes showed how much he cared about the young male.

"Seifer…" The soldier placed his hand on the back of Tidus's head pulling him down to kiss him again. It was sweet and Tidus enjoyed every moment of it. He didn't care that the darkness surrounded the two of them, wrapping around their forms like a worm around a stick. Right now with the warmth he was feeling now, he didn't care about what the darkness might do to them, so long as he was with Seifer.

Seifer rested his palm against his cheek and Tidus stared at him watching him until the darkness came to the both of them.

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Trouble was brewing in Kingdom Hearts. The darkness was on the loose in a place it should never have been allowed to come. It was circulating around the palace blocking out light like it had never done before. It made every bone in his body even drearier with the thought of impending doom leaning over them.

Auron frowned pushing up to his feet as he looked at the others. His eyes went around quickly. He looked at Wakka then past him at the direction Tidus had run towards. Tidus was missing…so was Seifer. And he knew this was why it was a bad thing.

"You need to get out of Kingdom Hearts."

"Huh?" Wakka looked at him confused. "What do ya mean?"

"You need to go," Auron said getting Wakka's attention as he leaned on his sword to keep himself standing up right. He didn't have the energy to fight, the darkness having drained so much of it. But he was able to see the darkness building up and it wasn't looking good.

"What?"

"Take everyone and get out of the city," Auron said moving into a fighter's stance as he stared back past Wakka. The red head started to turn around to look but jumped when Auron yelled out, "Go before it's too late!"

"Right! Yes sir!" Wakka ran past him quickly.

As Wakka passed him, Auron let out a quick, "don't look back," before the other was gone and Auron was left to face the beast in front of him. And it wasn't just a little beast. The heartless was huge, growing in size even though it already reached well over the size of the palace by the time it stood up in the courtyard.

Though the creature didn't make any sounds, it did destroy everything it touched or brushed again. Auron knew it was still dangerous. He doubted that he'd be able to survive long against it. He was certain he'd lose his heart to the amount of darkness radiating from it. The thing breathed darkness, it breathed with hatred and anger gathered from the people of Gaia.

He felt overwhelmed by it. The darkness overpowered the light. This darkness that shouldn't have even been allowed inside of Kingdom Hearts was taking over like it hadn't done before. He wondered if the Door to Light had closed, a thought he didn't like because it would mean that Sora and the others had failed. He was worried, even more so at the fact that he didn't know if Cloud was still hiding inside the palace somewhere or not.

The heartless seemed to take notice of him and took a step towards him. He frowned having to tilt his head back to look up at the large beast, feeling intimidated even though he tried not to. He saw the purplish looking slash going across where the beast's nose should have been and just had the feeling it was Seifer.

"This is going to be difficult," Auron said to himself, staring up at the giant foot hovering over him. He dodged out of the way as the foot crashed into the ground making the floor rumble, debris and stone flying all around him.

Auron covered his mouth with the cloth of his jacket waiting for the dirty smoke to settle before looking up at the beast. He was still worn out, exhausted. In this state there was no way he was going to defeat this beast.

The beast swung his huge arms at him, sharp blades of darkness shooting from his clawed fingertips. Auron reacted instantly, running as the spikes stuck into the ground behind him. He ran as fast as his tired legs would carry him.

"Gah!" Searing pain brought him down as he yelled. He looked back at his leg seeing the stake of darkness penetrating it. Despite the pain, he was surprised not to see any blood spurting out. A shadow covered over him as he looked up seeing the impeding foot hovering overhead again. But this time moving wasn't an option, the spike pinning his leg to the ground.

He stared at the foot preparing himself mentally for his fate. He was already living on extended time thanks to Cloud and Sora. For all he knew, he should already be dead. He survived what normal people shouldn't have been able to. So if he died now it was only fitting. So he laid there waiting for the foot to descend on him.

A flash of light lit the foot of the huge beast and even though it didn't yell out he did see it flinch away, the foot landing to the side of him.

"Are you ok?" Kairi landed in front of him, standing in a guarded position facing the beast. He could only see her from the side but he could see the keyblade being held in her hands. It surprised him to see it. For someone that wasn't part of Kingdom Heart's royal family, it seemed unheard of for an outsider to be able to control the keyblade. But this girl was related to Riku who was a unique case himself, being able to hold a keyblade and control both light and dark.

"Auron?" The girl's voice quaked with worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Auron said as he sat up the best he could. He looked down at the dark shard pinning his leg down and grunted. His leg felt numb and looked dark thanks to the darkness flow through his body from the new leg injury.

He pulled managing to pull it out even though his hands darkened because of it. It felt…different than usual. Despite that it was darkness; it felt lighter for some reason. He thought he could feel at home in it despite the overpowering feeling of despair and anger. He wanted if it had something to do with Tidus's feeling somehow reaching the darkness that took over Seifer. Then for a moment he thought he could see Tidus's energetic eyes looking down at them before they returned to the emotionless yellow ones.

"Go take care of the others," Auron said pushing to his feet.

"But-" She threw more light at the creature making it take a step back. The light burst on contact fluttering around the beast like butterflies to a light. It distracted the beast for now. Good, that would give Kairi time to get away.

She looked tired. From the looks of it she'd been using the light for a while nice, at least since he'd changed over into that beast from earlier. He was surprised she was still standing. But she didn't have much choice, not if she wanted to protect her friends.

"There's not much you can do for me here," he said panting as he slid himself down against the nearest wall.

"Auron…"

"I'm fine with this," Auron said laughing, the lower half of his body covered in darkness. "My only regret is me not knowing if Sora and the others are ok." And Cloud.

"Auron…" Kairi kneeled down while the monster was distracted pushing something into his hand. "Take this," she said smiling at him. "It will protect you."

"Heh…" He looked down at the small charm before clenching his fingers around it. The girl was still standing there staring at him when he looked up at her again. He couldn't help smiling. She looked every bit like her cousin the prince and in some ways like his very own princes. She was just a child after all, a child capable of controlling the light. But she had a strong will about her, like the others had. They weren't willing to give up fighting, and it was obvious that she didn't either.

"I'll hold on to this then," he said with confidence. "I'm sure it will be of help to me." He gestured with his head to the side. "Now go. The others can't protect themselves. They will need you."

"But…"

"It's fine. I'm used to the darkness." He looked towards the giant beast with the scar across its face and frowned. "Besides, I get the feeling that I need to see this through." He had a feeling that he could break through the darkness and reach Seifer some kind of way.

"Ok." Kairi smiled down at him kindly, resting her hand on his head. He felt the warmth of the light flowing through his body from her touch and when he looked down the darkness that had invaded his body was gone. His limbs felt alive though still pretty weak. But the healing was not without its toil as the girl stared at him tiredly. "Be safe. I'll come back for you as soon as I get the others to safety."

"Good." Though he wished she hadn't wasted her efforts on him. "Then I'll play as a little distraction while you're gone." He pushed to stand, using his sword once more to help pull him up. "Go now."

Kairi nodded and turned starting to leave. The creature took notice of her and started to reach at her, butterflies all but forgotten. Keyblade in hand, Kairi turned throwing enough light off to blind the beast before taking off.

The girl was strong. She didn't show an ounce of fear, a trait that Auron remembered in her father before his death. Chuckling, Auron waited till he saw the beast looking for Kairi before he stepped out making himself known.

"You don't want that girl," Auron said smirking as he crouched down, staring at the beast with his one good eye. The booze in his flask lay mostly empty for some unknown reason. He knew he must have used it while he was out of it. He honestly hoped he didn't hurt anyone.

But he had other tricks up his sleeves, skills and attacks he wasn't able to use before because of all the innocent people around him. His attacks didn't specialist on just the darkness but focused on humans too, friends or foes.

Still, this was a bit much. The beast was gargantuan. But he didn't become a soldier to complain. He was here to protect the royal family and the innocent people who suffered because of evil. He was going to protect the girl and her friends, with his life if he must.

Auron gripped his sword as tight as he could spinning around in the direction of the heartless. He gathered speed spinning faster, a whirlwind of air flowing around him. When he thought it was ready he swung his sword out sending it pillowing towards the beast. It wrapped around the heartless spinning it around as it picked it up carrying it into the air.

Kingdom Heart's commanding officer looked down at his flask of liquor. There was still a small corner of it left. It wasn't much but it'd at least be useful in this attack. He grabbed it pulling it free from his person before he tossed it into the wind. It carried itself up, the pressure from the wind causing it to burst open as it ignited into a burst of flames.

Though the beast didn't scream it writhed wildly in anger and pain as it landed on the ground causing him to stumble off-balance. Auron bent over resting a hand to his knee and holding himself up with the word. He still clutched the charm tight in his hand. He had nothing left to give. Even giving everything he had, he hadn't been able to do any damage to the thing as he saw the beast stand as if that attack had been nothing.

He remembered a time when this wouldn't have been a problem, when he would have received power from his king. The royal family of Kingdom Hearts could give that kind of blessing.

The beast reached down grabbing and lifting him up. He didn't fight it. He couldn't. He had nothing left. All that was left to him was to let fate take its course. He'd given enough time to let the others escape. That was all he cared for.

As the beast pulled him into a strange embrace, Auron felt the darkness sucking him in. He held the charm, his sword dropping down to clatter on the ground. As the darkness engulfed him, he never let go of the charm, hoping with small prayer that Sora and the others could succeed in their mission and save everyone.

TBC…

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I honestly wasn't impressed with this chapter, the second half anyway. I swear I wish I had thought out all this "think of the stuff you want to put into your story before you right it," stuff. But I was young...naive...and now I'm fighting with inconsistencies. But I'm gonna keep going anyways! Cause I'm lazy! :D


	64. Princely Garbs 64

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: A week behind but yay update? Ever pull a muscle in your back for some unknown reason? x.x That's what I'm feeling right now. Argh!

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Princely Garb 64

"How much further do you plan on making me go?"

"It's not much further now."

Still, the girl had been leading him on for like twenty minutes now. He didn't trust her. Why should he when she worked willingly with Xehanort? She wasn't like the Organization, or at least she didn't feel like a person being controlled. She was fully aware of what she was doing and all Roxas could do was stay alert and wait for whatever trap she sprung.

"You don't act anything like Sora," Yuffie said continuing to walk and sounding like she was pouting. "He's pretty cute and super nice unlike you."

"Shut up with the small talk and keep walking."

"Party pooper." But she kept walking. Her personality somehow felt different than it did earlier, a lot less urgent really. She said Cloud and Leon were in danger and she was moving casually as if it were just a bright sunny day at the park. It was like she was playing some secret game, one that Roxas didn't like one bit. "We're almost there now. It's just up ahead."

Roxas gave an involuntary shudder, enough that he actually stopped walking. Tsunami looked at him and at Roxas's nodded he floated off ahead of them, bypassing the oblivious Yuffie.

"I don't trust you," Roxas said glaring at the girl's back stalling for time so that Tsunami could see what lay ahead of them.

"You don't have to. But you want to save Cloud and Leon, don't you?" She turned around, that worried look on her face again. "You won't let them die, right?" She looked sincere. It bothered him. Yuffie was definitely an unstable person…that or a really good actor.

"I won't…"

Tsunami floated back to him, leaning in close to whisper. "There's nothing there but a dead end."

"I'll be careful," Roxas said into his mind before starting to walk again. "Lead the way quickly then," he said out loud to the girl. "And if I find out you're tricking me-"

"I'm not! I'm not! I promise!" She clapped her hands together before heading off again.

"You better not be," was the threat Roxas gave her as he followed. He walked, further than he expected and further than Tsunami expected apparently because his father glanced at him and frowned. What should have been only a couple of minutes was now going on ten minutes. And still no wall made itself known. Roxas was about to open his mouth to point it out but the girl stopped looking back at him.

"We're here."

Roxas didn't see anything at first but slowly light seemed to grow in the room. He saw why when he saw the candles starting to glow around the room, that strange glow that only seemed to feed the darkness by how feeble it was.

Like a trapped bird trying to flee its cage, Roxas thought.

As the light grew, Roxas was able to see two figures lying on the ground. He recognized them instantly, the spiky blond hair being a dead giveaway. He ignored Tsunami's sound of protest, running over and dropping down to kneel in front of them. Both sets of eyes stayed open. Both bodies lay unmoving. Whether they were dead or not, he couldn't tell. But the fact that they looked cold and discarded left Roxas with little to imagine.

"Leon? Cloud?" He reached out with a shaking hand, preparing to touch one of those cold looking bodies, to check for a pulse.

"Roxas, watch out!" Something sharp pressed to his back and he tensed, hand held suspended in space. He risked a glance back seeing Yuffie behind him. The girl was holding a weapon but he couldn't tell what kind because of his position.

"Stand up, please," she said and when he didn't, she poked him harder making him wince at the sharp pain. "Stand if you don't want me to kill them."

So they were alive? He stood up glancing at the two soldiers with a frown. They didn't look alive, but he didn't want to take a chance on it.

"Start walking." He wanted to say where to but when he looked up he saw a door in front of him. It was huge too, as big as the Door to Light. How did he miss something that large?

There were lanterns beside the door with bluish glowing lights in them except where one was lighter the other was a darker more purplish color. The lights felt familiar to him but he was being pushed forward again, towards the darkness of the door. He didn't get time to figure it out. He should have never rushed ahead the way he did and left himself defenseless.

The girl pressed against him from behind causing him to tense up at the sudden closeness. Despite the situation he found himself blushing feeling her breast pressed into his back. Well it wasn't like he interacted closely with women often, excluding Larxene where it was just business. Hell, he had Axel for a boyfriend for crying out loud.

But when he heard the whisper in his ear, his mind became boggled with confusion and more questions than he could stand. Then he was being pushed through the door and found himself spinning out of vortex. The lit room faded away as he was left with a spinning vertigo in the darkness of a world he'd never seen.

The words, please save them, repeating themselves in his ear.

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Mickey panted as sweat dripping down his brow. He looked around him wildly. He'd been fighting off enemy after enemy since this strange battle started.

He was alone though he didn't remember starting out that way. Two bodies lay on the ground behind him but it was hard to discern their features thanks to the darkness. He'd tripped over them unintentionally several times during his plight. He wondered if they were comrades or if they were enemies he'd defeated.

Mickey fought plenty of demons, plenty of monsters from his past that shouldn't have existed now. He fought Sephiroth, someone that should have been defeated. Still, Mickey fought against the man who moved like a wraith before the king of darkness had just vanished in thin air. It unnerved him and through his battles he found himself checking his back waiting for the silver haired male to make his appearance and strike him down.

He fought against Tsunami, Cloud and Leon, and even against his deceased friend Ansem except his brain tried to make him forget that these were friends. It wore on him mentally and it wore on him physically. His hands felt like they were covered in grease and it took extra effort just to grip the keyblade. Each person he defeated seemed to drain more from him. He didn't think he'd even be able to stay conscious. Somewhere in this sick battle royale, there was a trick. He was being forced to use up his powers by fighting.

Mickey vaguely remembered a young girl, a girl with blond hair talking to three of them upon their arrival. They had warned him not to listen to her but he did it anyway, hoping to change whatever fate she saw. Wait…three? Wasn't he the only one who came here? His brain seemed to pulse before he looked up seeing his next foe materializing before him.

His eyes narrowed as he started at the woman, no the monster in front of him. She was a wicked witch, one from his own world. He'd fought her before as well as defeated her. The woman had tried to steal away the love of his life. But he wouldn't allow that, not then and not now.

"Maleficent," he cursed glaring at the woman and wishing he could be in his stronger, nonhuman form now.

"Dear king…foolish king." She held her hand up wiggling her fingers slowly and making Mickey think of a spider plotting the death of its prey. "To think you could get rid of the embodiment of darkness. Hm." She gave a short laugh and it felt like it reached his bones. "Very foolish indeed." And she glared at him.

"Dear Maleficent…rotten Maleficent." Mickey prepared light inside of him, ready to attack her. "Thinking she can still have her way after all these years." He laughed in a casual manner. "A shame she is too ignorant to realize her error." He smiled seeing the green flames of darkness explode from her body with anger. Even though he was smaller than her and in his weakest form, he still smirked up at her intimidating form. "Silly witch."

"Hm." She lifted her head haughtily glaring down the bridge of her nose at him. "Let's see if this little mouse will squeak so much under FOOT!" At the last word she changed, becoming the large hideous dragon he was accustomed to seeing. The foot was raised over him and coming down quickly in degree of crushing him.

Mickey stood his ground, holding up his arms and pointing his keyblade at the bottom of her foot letting loose with his light. It surrounded the foot like a spider web, climbing up until it surrounded the dragon. Despite her struggles, Maleficent roared loudly, squeezed tightly by the tightening light until there was nothing left but a smoke of green darkness.

Mickey panted tiredly, lowering his arm before turning and staring into the darkness behind him.

"Are we finished with all these games yet?" Mickey asked the darkness. "I do not appreciate you playing around with my past or my friends."

"So you remembered them?" The young girl stepped out of the darkness to stand in front of him seeming to glow with an unnatural light.

"Yes," Mickey said smiling at her. "Though they look the same your shadows are weak. Nothing compared to the real ones." He moved walking to the two bodies and kneeling down relieved to feel their pulses. "When I fought against the real Maleficent, I wasn't alone." He smiled kindly at his two subordinates, seeing that they were nothing more than sleeping. "These two were there to help me. And without them I would have failed."

He looked up as the girl walked closer frowning slightly and having to squint his eyes against the glow of her light. "I was no match against Sephiroth. You could have easily killed me then but you didn't. Why did you send him away? Why did you let these two live?"

"You are here to help Sora, correct?" Mickey nodded though he didn't ask her how she knew his name. She obviously knew everyone's name, probably even those that weren't even born yet. This girl…what was she? "What I've showed you is only a portion of what Xehanort is capable of. He's able to change history and to change the future."

Namine sat down on the ground in front of him and used her finger to draw into the air in front of him. The glow of the light left an imprint in the air making it easy to see what she drew. "These," she said drawing stick figures though somehow he knew who they were supposed to be. "These are all of the people that Xehanort can control, all of the people whose powers he has stolen."

The list was huge. It didn't consist of just the Organization or Sephiroth. He saw Cloud, he saw Leon and Auron. He saw Seifer, Tidus, others from Kingdom Hearts and Radiant Garden alike. Soldiers, civilians, innocent people, even animals. Kings of the past, people of other worlds, just so many he couldn't see them all at once as the people surrounded him.

"Xehanort is not weak," she said lowering her hand down staring at Mickey with crystal clear blue eyes. "If Sephiroth was a demon king, then Xehanort is the god that controls him. He will not be easily defeated."

"…I can't tell if you're trying to help me or trying to discourage me." He reached up tugging slightly on the dark blades of his bangs, staring past his fingers at the girl. "If you're on our side, why do you say we shouldn't have messed with Cloud?"

"Cloud's mind is weak even if his body is strong." She stood up drawing a picture of Cloud. "He can fight. He can command an army, protect people, and defeat evil." Namine drew him doing just those things. "But his weakness is here," and she pointed at his head when she said that. "And here." This time she pointed to his heart.

"If he had been left alone after finding out he'd killed his king, he may have ended his own life before Xehanort could have stopped him." She looked at his eyes. "And the door would have stayed closed."

He frowned, not liking that idea at all. "Are you saying Cloud's death would have solved everything?"

"Yes." Mickey opened his mouth to speak against it, but the girl kept going. "Cloud is unique, even on his own world of Terra. He is…similar to that of a god in our world. Both he and Leon are from this world. Terra is the world that leads to all worlds." Goofy shifted beside him and he rested a hand on his friend's shoulder, his eyes still focused on the girl. "Cloud has excess to an unlimited amount of Terra's Flame, or the Life Stream by its proper name."

She turned drawing a picture of the human body and drew an arrow pointing at the body. "Normal people on Terra will feel the power in this way." And she drew an arrow on the opposite side of the body pointing away from it. "The power flows in through them. They have no access to it other than that it lets them live. Just like people here on Gaia can have both light and dark inside of them even though that can't use it."

She erased the arrows and Mickey really started to feel like he was in school. "Though not many, there are people there similar to Sora and Roxas. They can use the Life Stream to a certain extent. She drew an arrow pointing at the body again. But this time inside the body she drew a cycling arrow. "They can only use what their bodies can hold. And when they finish, what power they have left will replenish itself over time. Leon would really be dead by now, or severely weakened if Cloud didn't exist in this world as well." Namine smirked slightly at the confused look on Mickey's face.

"Cloud is a special case. He…creates his own flames."

"Creates them?" Mickey blinked in confusion.

"As I said before, he is a rare breed on Terra. He is one of three of these special kinds that can produce their own flames. It can even be said that he provides Terra with the flames." And she drew on this picture again, this time showing the arrows pointing outside and away from the body. "He has unlimited access to the Life Stream. Even if he used up all of his flames, he wouldn't die here, not from that cause anyway. That's why Leon can live…because Cloud is providing him with power from the Life Stream."

She paused rubbing at her chin. "Actually, I think Cloud has a temple named after him too."

"So what does that mean for us?" Mickey said slowly pushing to his feet. "How do we stop Xehanort from taking over?"

"We can't," she said. "Not unless Sora destroys the body he's taken, and even then he'll just jump to a new host." Mickey frowned. He hadn't expected that for an answer. If she had told Sora something like that they'd just as well forget the words had ever been said. "However, if we can trap him before he jumps to the next body, he'll have nowhere to run."

Mickey nodded but when she moved her foot again something caught his eye. He looked down, seeing a small black rope wrapped around her ankle and frowned. He hadn't noticed that there before.

"What is that?"

"Hm?" She looked down as if she'd forgotten it was there before smiling. "Oh…that's my leash. In case I try to run."

"Leash?" Mickey jumped up quickly. "So you're a captive?"

"I told you Xehanort uses the power of those touched by darkness. As long as I'm being touched by it, he has free access to all of it."

"…Who are you?"

"Namine," she said looking up at him innocently. "I come from the Door to Light."

"…Come from the Door to Light?" She nodded her heard at his question. "…I don't really get what you're saying."

"Despite what you see now, I'm not really a physical being. I was created when Xehanort pulled me from the Door to Light and chained me down with the darkness. But though I can create the light, I cannot control it. I am more a source for the light to flow from."

"So similar to Cloud with the Life Stream?"

She smiled at that and shook her head. "Similar but now the same. Cloud's able to use the Life Stream. I can't use the light." She turned drawing a sloppy image of Sora, the spiky brown hair a good give away. "Sora is similar to Leon as in not being in this world will make him lose his access to the light. But in Sora's case, he will not die from it…just become weaker. So when Xehanort is done with him, it's possible he may kill him."

"Then how do we stop it?"

"Set me free…if I'm freed, I can go there and save Sora by giving him more light."

"That seems…impossible," Mickey said staring down at the rope that seemed to taunt him. He could tell just from looking at it that it would not be loosened easily, even if it was just a rope. He'd known about the chains that used to keep the Door to Light shut back when King Tsunami was killed, before Sora had learned about his powers. And even then it took the effort of both boys to open the doorway. He was just one man himself.

"It's the only way to save him." And he knew her words were true. If he wanted to save Sora, he needed to save the girl. If everything she said was true, then that would be the case. Which meant he needed to find someone else to help him, someone that could use the keyblade. And counting the people that came to the palace with him, excluding Sora that would leave Roxas and Zack.

"I need to bring Roxas and Zack here in order for this to work."

"Your majesty…." Mickey looked down at Goofy hearing his voice. "Conserve your strength. Me and Donald will look for them….hyuk…" Goofy coughed slightly but he stood up despite Mickey trying to coax him into relaxing. The man always felt like he needed to do so much to help him, even if Mickey didn't ask for it.

"But Goofy-"

"Don't worry, hyuk." And Goofy grinned at him. "We'll help you no matter what."

"Yeah, let us help, your majesty," Donald said sitting up as well looking frustrated even if he didn't mean to. "We'll bring those guys here no matter what."

"Thanks. I know I can count on you." He smiled at them just as they were smiling back at him. They were his friends and he knew they could accomplish anything they put their hearts to. Now, he just needed to think of a way to get that rope off.

TBC….

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I still say it's pretty inconsistent like hell but meh. I thinks the next chapter will be pretty good ^^ and probably something people are looking forward too even though I'm like maybe...halfway done with it?


	65. Princely Garbs 65

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: And Updateded!

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Princely Garbs 65

It was strange to him that he didn't panic like he should have. Being tricked by Xehanort and trapped within the darkness should have driven him crazy. And it might have had it not been for the fact that the darkness belonged to Riku. Though the darkness kept Sora trapped in some sort of endless void, it felt comforting. He could feel Riku's warmth despite that Xehanort was controlling it. He compared it to being wrapped up in a blanket or even to being embraced by Riku's strong arms. It protected him…because he knew that Riku would never hurt him.

But urgency called to him and he struggled to fight against the protective shield. If he stayed he'd lose something important to him. He'd lose the one keeping this darkness warm. He knew because his heart kept yelling at him to hurry.

Riku…

Sora gasped for air falling forward to land on his hands and knees panting hard as if he'd just fought a thousand heartless. He looked around wildly trying to pull his bearings together. His eyes were wild like a trapped animal. His heart thundered in his chest as if he'd just finished running to escape for his life.

He stood slowly, carefully, to not draw attention to himself as well as to the fact that he felt weak. He felt drained and swallowed a few times to keep from getting sick. He was lightheaded too he realized. What exactly happened to him?

Sora turned slowly staring at the wall he'd fallen from. Darkness, similar to the one that encased his father stared back at him, bubbling and dripping with a hissing sound and a faint scent he couldn't call pleasant. Had he been trapped inside of that thing? Was that why he felt drained? He remembered trying to destroy it back when he'd been with Roxas and how it seemed to steal their light instead of shying away from it. So to have his whole body surrounded by it, he wasn't too surprised he was so tired. But how had he gotten out of that with no energy left to him?

He thought about his brother and frowned turning and staring into the darkness. He remembered now, being separated from him in his flight to catch up to who he thought was Riku. Instead, he'd found out it was Xehanort pretending to be Riku. He'd been tricked, pinned to the wall by the similarities to his boyfriend and then sealed in place by the darkness.

Xehanort had said something to him before he'd lost his consciousness. A door…something about a door being open.

"…_Come find me to find out."_

Those had been some of the final words Xehanort said to him. He wanted Sora to find him…why? Why not just dispose of him? It confused him and made him suspicious all at the same time. What did Xehanort want with him and why?

He started to walk, moving with care through the darkness. He didn't have enough strength to summon the light or his keyblade and really hoped he didn't come across any heartless in the darkness. He'd be dead before he knew it.

Candles lit up against what he assumed to be walls, making a trail that seemed to be leading the way for him as he slid against the wall. Well Xehanort wasn't trying to make it hard to be found. He must be getting impatient.

Sora grinned at the thought and would have slowed down more just to spite him. But he wanted to get this over with as quickly as he could. He needed to find a way to get Riku to wake up.

"Riku…"

Sora stumbled falling before he knew what happened as the support of the wall vanished from under his hand at his next step. He'd walked, more like fallen into a larger area now. When he looked up, it seemed like the room lit up before he looked around. Aside from the giant door at the center of the room, everything else lay bare. There was literally nothing else there, except for two weird symbols etched into the floor glowing faintly. He saw two lanterns filled with strange bluish light glowing in the darkness that sat on either side of the large door. For a moment he wondered if he was looking at the Door to Light or the Door to Darkness. But it didn't feel like either one of those.

He stood up again, groaning as his muscles protested the labor of moving then started to walk again, heading towards the door. The candles led him to this place and as far as he could see, this was the only way out. No other doors lead into the room, which was strange because when Sora looked behind him, the way he'd come in was gone as well. This room just like this whole tower was an enigma to him, ever changing, never steady.

He got to the door, stopping in front of it and staring at it. Something in his heart told him he needed to go through, that he'd be able to save Riku that way.

So he took the plunge, stepping forward and dropping down. No, he floated down. His body flipping in as all gravity had left him. It was dark all around him. He glanced everywhere and wondered briefly if he'd made a mistake and was now stuck in a kind of limbo.

But as his body flipped right side up and his feet landed on the ground he looked around starting to see through the darkness as the world slowly started to grow brighter. He started to recognized shapes like trees and grass and even the lay of a forest before him. Had he just been transported to some place hidden in the world?

Sora took his first step cautiously. His eyes were wide as he looked around like a deer waiting to be prey to some hiding animal. Something told him to glance up and when he did he saw a large door overhead staring back at him. So that's where he came from. Or so he assumed anyway. It floated in the air further from him than he'd originally expected.

He stared at everything as he walked through the small forested area. Things were brighter now and he thought he saw small flashes of blue similar to what he'd seen in the lanterns by the door. They reminded him of the bluish light he'd seen Leon use recently, since coming back from their battles with Sephiroth. He really didn't remember ever seeing those attacks before. But Riku didn't seem surprised by the fact at all. Was it some family secret that Sora wasn't meant to know?

Sora…

Sora turned quickly looking over his shoulder. His head turned this way and that before he frowned. He'd hearted Riku's voice, he knew he did. He wasn't going crazy.

Sora…

He turned again staring at the vague outline of Riku covered in a blank shadow.

"Riku?" The visual vanished and Sora moved to the vacant spot as quick as possible. He turned in a circle looking for the boy. "Riku!"

A gasp escaped Sora's mouth as he saw the apparition appear briefly before him again then once more a little further away. He followed, trapped in the game as he stalked after the shadow shaped like his best friend. He was being led by an invisible leash and he didn't fight against it.

The ground rumbled beneath him and he looked up startled. A large entity flew overhead resembling the Highwind II but at the same time looking completely different and far faster. It was only seconds before it was out of sight. The thing was huge…and far more high tech than he could ever remember Cid's being. In fact, Cid's was the only one he'd ever seen, and he'd just created it.

Sora…

He looked down, frowning as he moved at a slower pace. This was not Riku. It was a foolish trick by Xehanort to make Sora lose his cool. But he wouldn't be tricked a second time. He just needed to remember that this wasn't his Riku.

Trees became less as he noticed the large structure of a city appearing before him. It wasn't close though, further out in the distance but resembling nothing like the cities he'd seen before. He walked to the cliff ahead, standing on the edge and staring towards the city. It was colorful, lights everywhere and airships flying overhead without a care in the world. Where was he?

He looked down seeing hundreds upon hundreds of doors. All of them looked just like the Door to Light except each of them had locks on them to keep them from being opened. It almost seemed like a garden the way the doors were lined up perfectly.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sora jumped looking to his side seeing and hearing Riku beside him. No, he needed to remember that this wasn't Riku. He stepped away, glaring as he called out his keyblade. He doubted he'd be able to use it though, not when he felt so weakened.

"Xehanort…"

"What do you think of Terra?" Xehanort lifted a hand gesturing with expansion towards the city. "This beautiful world of Terra with its vast technology." He squeezed his hand, Riku's hand, into a fist so tight blood dripped down from the open wounds caused by his nails. "I anticipate crushing it along with all worlds."

"Stop that!"

"Hm?" Xehanort glanced at him then to the bleeding hand before he smirked. "Do you not like seeing your friend's body damaged this way?" He did it again with the other hand. Sora responded instantly, baring his teeth as he swung his blade at him. But before it could hit Xehanort, he stopped hand shaking wildly. He couldn't do it. Not to this body.

"Hmm…seems I found your soft spot." Xehanort reached up pushing the blade to the side staring at Sora. There was a look in his eyes that Sora didn't like.

"Let's make a deal," Xehanort said staring into Sora's eyes. He looked away back towards the doors. Sora felt like he could breathe again. "If you use your keyblade to open all of these doors…I'll give you your little boyfriend's body back."

Sora frowned looking at the doors, all those closed doors. There were plenty of them, more than he could count. It would take everything he had just to open up half of them. He was already running on empty.

"…You want me to open up all of them?"

"Yes."

"And you promise you'll let Riku go if I do?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"No." Sora frowned. "But what choice do I have?"

"Good boy." Xehanort grinned as he squatted down staring at him. "Here, I'll give you a little something to help you get started." Sora couldn't react in time, seeing the light shooting out from Xehanort's body and hitting him in the chest. He felt the warmth invading him, violating him considering it was Xehanort doing this. But he took it all in, feeling his strength slowly returning to him as the keyblade pulsed in his hand.

"There," Xehanort said looking up at him, smiling even though he didn't touch his eyes. "Better?"

"Shove it."

"So rude." Xehanort laughed at that. "Now move along. The quicker you move, the less urges I'll have for hurting myself." The way he looked at Sora when he said that showed that he wasn't buffing. Sora wouldn't be surprised if the guy actually removed one of Riku's arms just to make him doing as he said. Just that thought made Sora's blood run cold. He needed to figure something out.

"Hurry, boy. I'm getting impatient."

"…." Sora sighed looking at the doors before pointing his keyblade. He didn't want Riku getting hurt any more than he already was. He'd just have to comply for now until he could figure out something. At least this way, he was closer to saving Riku, closer to the boy in general. And for now that was good enough.

TBC…

Meh...still sleepy. A bit of a short chapter this time around as I was getting a slight case of blockage. But I think I have an idea of where I'm going with this next.


	66. Princely Garbs 66

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: And...I actually liked this chapter!

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Princely Garbs 66

He hadn't been to Terra in years. In fact, the last time he remembered, he was still just a teenager himself. He'd been arrogant, sarcastic, childish, everything an adult shouldn't be. And because of those things, he'd been whisked away from his home through unknown entities and forced to live a life in the world of Gaia. At the time, he'd been picked up by a renegade group and in very little time he became known as Squall the Lion, a name to fear on Gaia. He hurt people relentlessly for sake of the group. Yet he had no desires to socialize with any of them.

In some ways he felt as if he were just biding the time and waiting for the next world to open up to him. Then King Ansem had shown up with his entourage of soldiers to surround the renegade camp. Everyone had been either arrested or killed for resistance. But not him, not Squall the Lion. Each time soldiers got close to him, he'd go into a rage and attack them, injure them, come close to killing them. None could get close, not with the strange blue flames coursing around his body. Even arrows couldn't touch him.

They said when he got like that his eyes looked like that of a wild animal's. But could he blame them? He was a wild animal. He was an animal taken from his home and let lose in the world to wreak havoc. Try and try again, soldiers couldn't get to him, even when he was so young.

Then King Ansem stepped into the picture. Against his men's warnings, he'd headed towards the young boy, no weapon in hand. Squall had thought him insane, stupid really. Who would walk up to a hostile mad man without a single weapon? Then the man spoke to him, just a few simple words and the rage Squall had felt seemed to just melt away.

"Come with me. I'll give you a new home."

A new home? Was it possible to have a home in such a foreign world? But at the gentle smile and the hand held out to him, he hesitated for only an instance before reaching out and grabbing it. Since then, he'd become one of the family, a willing servant to King Ansem and the family to follow. He was dedicated to them, not just for a home but for being given a purpose to protect them. And even now that he was back in his old home, something that felt foreign to him, he was still dedicated to protecting his young prince, no matter what.

"You're still not awake yet, huh?" Leon looked over his shoulder at the blond resting against his back. He didn't exactly no where they were in Terra and at this point was just hoping to get to the nearest town for help. When he'd woken up he'd been laying out in an open field, both him and Cloud together. While he'd been surprised to see that they were both alive, he was bothered by the fact that Cloud didn't wake up. They'd been surrounded by tall grass, probably the only reason no wild animals, if there were any in the region, had bothered to attack them.

Cloud laid against his back, not saying anything in response other than to breathe in and breathe out in sleep. Neither of them should have been alive, not after losing all of Terra's Flame. Yet they were here, alive and well, even if Cloud was comatose at the moment. Leon saw the city lights ahead of them, recognized it as his old home even if it didn't feel so warm.

He wondered if his father was still alive back in the city. The city was alive with bright lights and colors that'd be unfamiliar to anyone living on Gaia. It had its vast technology, things he was sure Cid would go crazy over if he saw them. He wondered if the old man was ok, hovering over the tower of darkness and waiting for their return.

Leon shifted Cloud on his back slightly to get a bit more comfortable before he continued walking. He knew they'd see him soon, the guards from the city. He knew because this was his old home. People weren't able to just waltz right in, not without their ID tags. Of course he'd lost his a long time ago.

As he got closer to the city it was just as he had expected. About ten guards came rushing out like a flood, surrounding Cloud and him as they pointed their guns. He didn't recognize any of these guards. He frowned and stayed still, not so much worried about his own hide as he was worried about the defenseless Cloud. They had no weapons on them, a fact that he hated, so he had no way of protecting them.

"Where is your ID tag?" The male in front of him, probably the leader, said to him.

"I don't have it," Leon stated casually, staring the male down. He had to admit he liked how the male seemed to wilt slightly under his stare. But he didn't run, not when he had his trustee gun in front of him.

"State your name."

"Le…" No, that wasn't his name here. "….Squall Leonhart."

"Squall?" He looked confused for a moment before he frowned. "Squall Leonhart is dead. He's been declared dead for several years now, ever since he went missing."

"I have proof," Squall said, "Terra's Flame." They stared at him now then looked around at each other. Terra's Flame wasn't something that just anyone could use. And the only people that could even use it at all were from this city, from Esthar.

"Alright. Then show us this proof."

"…" Supporting Cloud with one hand, Leon held out his free hand in front of him, closing his eyes as he called on the power of the Life Stream. He waited to see the flame, the evidence of his heritage…but nothing happened.

"We're waiting," the guard said glaring at him now. "….or were you lying when you said you could use the flames?"

Leon frowned trying again getting the same results. Nothing. There was nothing coming out…what was going on? He'd been able to use the flames before, hell all of his life he'd used it. Was it because of the almost death experience?

"As I thought. A liar just like the rest of them. Take them away."

Leon tensed up when they got closer to him. He frowned holding Cloud to him and only started to truly fight it when they grabbed Cloud pulling him from Leon's back. Leon turned to punch the soldier that did it but was tackled to the ground by about three others that restrained him.

"Get away from him," he growled out struggling to get to Cloud. It was useless. He couldn't move and the soldier had already tossed Cloud over a shoulder like a bag of sugar. A few of the others were surveying the sleeping man before one of them backed away quickly.

"S-Sir!" The guard said looking at the leader that was standing next to Leon. "I-Isn't he one of them?"

…One of them?

"I doubt he is," the guard said. "He'd never be caught dead staying around a weakling like this one," and he gestured to Leon with those words making the other angrier. His emotions forced him to call on the flames again but even then nothing happened. He just…couldn't do it. "But we'll send him to analysis anyway to make sure."

"In the meantime," the guard continued turning and glaring at Leon. "Take this one to the jailhouse. We'll interrogate him later." Leon was forced to his feet and being pushed towards the palace. Despite how he struggled he couldn't stop himself from being separated from his lover.

He looked back glaring at the leader of the guards still standing with the soldier holding Cloud. "I swear," he said growling deep, "if you harm him, I'll pay you back with interest." The threat wasn't an empty one either. He knew he'd do it, to anyone that hurt his Cloud, especially while Cloud was in such a vulnerable state.

The leader only ignored him as he spoke with the other guard and two of them left with their package. Leon was forced to only be able to watch as his boyfriend was taken from him and he was forced to head towards the jailhouse.

"It's…hah…not working," Sora panted out tiredly. He looked drained…heck he was drained. He must have been at this for an hour now, trying to unlock these doors. But none of them opened no matter how hard he tried. The doors stayed shut. He could tell Xehanort was getting impatient by how he was tapping his finger against his wrist and had the tiny frown on his lips.

"You're not trying hard enough," Xehanort said sounding frustrated.

"I am!" Sora yelled back. "It's just not working. It's not my fault your plan is failing."

"Careful what you say, boy," the male said staring at him hard. "You forget whose life I'm holding onto right now." Sora frowned staying silent after that. He was right. Riku was still there…if he wasn't careful, there was no telling what all this man would do.

Sighing, Sora flopped down to the ground trying to catch his breath. He hated this. He wanted to be done with this and get Riku back and yet…. These doors were strange…they didn't even react to his light. And the one time one did react, something seemed to block him from being able to open it.

"I must be missing something," Xehanort said frowning and rubbing his chin. He was staring at the doors now and if he didn't say anything at least, Sora could almost see the real Riku sitting there. But the yellow eyes turned to him suddenly and he frowned looking away quickly. It wasn't Riku…it wouldn't be as long as Xehanort stayed in control. He thought about trying to make his light reach out to Riku, but right now with him being so weak he couldn't even do that.

"The Life Stream…" the male said suddenly drawing Sora's eyes to him again. He was looking at the doors again as he stood up. "Of course! Even if the keyblade unlocks the door, the Life Stream must be keeping it closed. I should have known this."

Sora frowned staring at him. Life Stream? What exactly was that?

"I need to get rid of the Life Stream so that it's not blocking the doors." He looked at Sora before he started walking towards him.

Sora got startled by the sudden action and started to back away before the man stopped him, grabbing his neck. Sora yelled out feeling a burning on his skin. He thought he saw smoke, but it was hard to tell from the tears of pain covering his eyes. The pain eased when Xehanort pulled back standing up again.

Sora panted rolling over and dry heaving, holding his hand to his neck. It hurt and the pain made him feel sick. As he was staring at the ground trying to get his strength back to stand, he saw a chain. It was barely visible, a black chain that seemed to be coming from his neck. But he didn't feel anything around his neck at all. As he followed the chain he looked up seeing the other end of it was wrapped around Xehanort's wrist.

"Good boy," Xehanort said smirking down at him and patting his head like he was a dog. Sora didn't have the strength to stop him and swallowed again. "This way I can keep my eyes on you while I'm taking care of this task. You'll still be needed to unlock the doors."

Sora slowly pushed to his feet, not wanting to make himself sick again from any fast movements before he looked at Xehanort. "What did you do?"

"I put a collar on you."

"…How…I don't feel anything."

"Of course not." And Xehanort threw his hand at the air dismissively. "It's made of the power of darkness. Not just anyone can see it let alone feel it." Sora frowned staring at him. He thought he saw other chains now, but it was very faint and went away as quickly as he thought about it. "Let's go."

"Go where?" He didn't like this one bit…but at least this way he'd be able to keep an eye on Xehanort.

"To where the Life Stream begins." Xehanort sighed rubbing his head. "I grow tired of all these extra obstacles."

"…What is the Life Stream?" He'd like to know what he was up against at least.

"The thing that keeps this world alive," Xehanort said. Sora frowned staring at him. And this man planned on destroying it? "And once I destroy it and its three off springs, there will be nothing left in my way."

This was starting to get complicated. Sora wasn't sure how much longer he could let this go on. He was going to have to make a decision. Otherwise, he had a feeling a lot of people were going to die…and he was sure Riku wouldn't like that. He wouldn't either for that matter.

Riku…

If only he could just reach out to him and wake him up.

TBC…

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And hope you enjoyed it. Can't think...sleepy...blah...


	67. Princely Garbs 67

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: Sorry for the late update x.x between work, sinus infections, and working on cosplay's…and video games…I haven't had much chance to work on this. Not to mention having a momentary writer's block.

As an extra note: Just for the record, to anyone that may disagree as I did have a complaint towards this, Ansem is going to continue to call Leon by the name Leon regardless of what happened in the game. That's just how this story rolls unless otherwise stated story wise. Since I'm not following canon or even the game at all, I think I'm entitled to that much as long as I keep it IC which I am doing my best to do (ranting). X.x Ah and I changed the ropes to chains…lol not that anyone has a clue what I'm talking about…maybe?

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Princely Garbs 67

Zack sat across from King Mickey, the two staring at the girl sitting between them in the makeshift little circle consisting of themselves, Donald, Goofy, and the black haired girl named Tifa who lay unconscious in Zack's arms. The girl between them, Namine, was explaining to them everything she'd told to King Mickey. She talked about the world of Terra and the flame that Cloud and Leon were both able to use. She talked about Cloud's special case and the flame's significance to the door leading to Terra.

She also explained a few new things such as what she was and who the girl Zack was holding was supposed to be. While Namine came from the Door to Light, Tifa was one from the Door to Darkness. Zack wouldn't have believed it, not after he'd just defeated her. But if the girl's powers were being manipulated, then of course she'd be far weaker. Not to mention, a glance at her foot showed the same kind of chain that was around Namine's own ankle, though made of light instead of darkness.

With the two of them here together, he could see that their chains were linked together and that both lead to somewhere else, or probably to someone else. They were, literally, just prisoners in Xehanort's game.

"So we just need to get these chains freed from them right?" Zack asked once all was said and done.

"Yes," Mickey said frowning as he stood up slowly. "This would be a lot easier if we could find Roxas or Sora to help us."

"Ashame they've already been taken through the door," Zack said standing as well and frowning as he glanced over at Tsunami and Auron. The two were invisible wraiths to the rest of them, but to him and his two nephews, it was like they were standing right there with them. He'd learned about what happened to Leon and Cloud from Auron and about what happened to Roxas from Tsunami. Neither could go through the door though. Not without knowing what would happen, considering how far away they'd be from their bodies. But if they could free Namine from her confinement….

"So what's the plan?"

"Simple," Mickey said as the flash of light appeared in his hand taking form of his keyblade. "We're going to use everything we've got to free Namine from this chain."

"And in doing so, I will be able to free Tifa and inevitable free your friends as well," Namine said and smiled over at Zack before she looked at Tsunami and Ansem standing there, smile still on her face. She knew they were there. There was no way she was just looking by chance. She was someone that could see the future after all.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let her loose like that?" Donald asked, sounding frustrated with the whole plan, probably because the whole thing would end up leaving his king pretty vulnerable.

"Darkness is not something that can be deemed evil," Namine said in response. "It is people that manipulate it who make it evil…the same could be of light not being truly good." Zack would have liked to ask more about that, but he left it at that. He doubted she'd tell him too many more details about that anyway.

"Well then," Zack said and pushed his nonexistent sleeves up as he pointed his keyblade at the chain. "Let's get to work then."

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Roxas frowned, moving quietly along the side of the prison building leading into the Esthar city, the sign he'd read while he'd snuck inside. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. So many flying gadgets and lights that he was sure Cid would have a heart attack out of excitement if he'd seen all of this. The place was like some living, scientific dream. Even Merlin would have to be impressed by this.

Sightseeing was not what he was here for right now though. He needed to get inside and rescue Leon and Cloud. He'd seen what happened, lying within the cover of the trees and his light nearby the city. He'd been surprised to see the two of them alive even if one of them was unconscious. By the time he was getting ready to meet them, the soldiers had shown up. Then the two had been split up and taken away.

Roxas had used his visor to scope the area and effectively move inside without being seen. Just a scan of the prison building showed him his target highlighted in yellow, the currently detained Leon. He hadn't found Cloud inside meaning the other was relocated somewhere else. He just wasn't sure where that could be. He'd just have to ask Leon once he got him out of there.

So using the abilities of the light, he'd moved pretty smoothly through the prison area without alerting a single guard. He was able to use it as a cover, the light surrounding him like a cloak to make him appear invisible to those around him. It was just an illusion though. If any one of those guards bumped into him, the charade would be over. The problem was going to arrive when he found Leon since he'd need to find a way to get him out of the cell hopefully unnoticed. He wasn't so sure he had enough energy in him to hide them both.

He went up several flights of stairs before he scanned the area again with his visor. Leon was on this floor, it seemed. It seemed strange that the prison climbed up instead of going down underground like he was used to most dungeons being. His visor seemed to glitch for a moment, Leon's name changing to Squall temporarily before it returned to its original name. It confused Roxas for a moment but he didn't let it bother him as he crept through the floor area. He remembered Leon being called Squall the Lion by Sephiroth at one point. Maybe it had to do with that.

He was surprised by the lack of guards on this floor as well as the lack of prisoners. In fact, it just made it easier to find Leon as he stopped in front of the only vacant cell left. This must have been a newly established floor to have so little resistance. Or was there a trick somewhere that he wasn't seeing?

He glanced around for a moment then held his hand out, the light showing up over his palm as he pushed it through the bars of the cell. It seemed to light up the area well enough that he could see the clear face of the sleeping commander, the male who's glaring eyes turned up to look at him like a trapped lion in a cage and ready to attack. As Roxas's cover fell away, the eyes seemed to ease into a more confused and definitely surprised look to see the young prince standing there.

"Ready to get out of there?" Roxas asked him, not waiting for an answer as he pulled out his keyblade and pointed it towards the door unlocking it. Strange how easy it was to unlock doors now. When he'd first used a keyblade, it took well…years to learn to ever unlock his bedroom door. He remembered his harsh training though he'd been void of his feelings at the time. Pain meant nothing to a boy whose whole life had been stolen from him.

"Roxas….how did you…?" Leon stood up when he heard the click and walked over to the door pushing it. It swung open freely admitting the man to his freedom from the cell. Now came the hard part…getting out of the prison itself unseen.

"Save it for later," Roxas whispered then gave a small smile in his direction. "We've still gotta save Cloud."

Leon nodded his head to those words and Roxas started walking away and Leon followed after him. He'd hoped the light would cover the two of them, whispering for Leon to stay as close as possible as they snuck past the first guard. But the guard just so happened to back up just at the moment bumping into Roxas and causing two pairs of eyes to stare at him startled.

The guard was just as surprised as they were and it only took a quick push to send him falling backwards and hitting his head against the metal bars knocking him out. That was all good except for the fact that the loud sound of impact seemed to alert the other guards to them.

"Hold it right there!" one of the guards yelled out as a group of them showed up at the bottom of the steps to join the others already on the floor. Prisoners that were on the floor as well yelled trying to get Roxas and Leon to free them. He ignored them, instead frowning as he turned around grabbing Leon's hand and pulling the other to follow him. Leon didn't show any complaint to his being dragged around, instead just following behind like a silent shadow.

They met the end of the hallway, a gated window sitting there to greet them. He didn't hesitate, calling forth the keyblade and slashing the bars, the pieces scattering inside and out of the large window big enough to fit two people standing up. Roxas climbed up and Leon followed suit before Roxas turned around looking at him. "We're going to jump. You're ok with this, right?"

"Of course," Leon said even though he didn't know what Roxas's plan was. "You're my prince…I'll follow you even if it kills me."

Roxas smiled, staring into the eyes shining with trust before he turned looking out again. He didn't have much time. The guards would be on them at any moment. "Hold on to me as tight as you can."

Leon only gave a nod as he reached out wrapping his arms around the prince's waist. It wasn't a weird or even an uncomfortable embrace, more like a fatherly one. Even though he hadn't known Leon for very long, he trusted him, just like how he trusted Cloud and Sora and even Riku despite this whole being taken over thing.

With pursuit right on his tail, he took the plunge hearing the guards yelling behind him. He fell, the two of them freefalling for a moment before Roxas created a board of light attaching to their feet giving them something to stand on. It had the same winged design his wheeled shoes had and served to guide and turn them as they continued to follow. It worked well, the blasters underneath helping to keep it afloat in the air. He'd come up with the idea after watching a few of those airships flying through the sky. At least now though, he was putting it to the test. At the same time he used his cloaking skills the hide the two of them from enemy eyes, hoping that he didn't pass out from using so much of his light at one time.

"Do you know where Cloud is being held?" Roxas asked. When Leon pointed his finger, Roxas just nodded and followed. He didn't ask how Leon knew where to go as they glided high over the city avoiding detection. Leon explained some of the things as they flew, such as the flying ships and the guards and some weird thing called ID tags used to identify a person. He said that all people that lived in the city had one and that to not have one meant trouble and being in prisoned. It explained why he and Cloud had been taken though not why Leon knew so much about this city. Maybe Leon had heard it all from the guards? You could learn a lot from sitting in a prison cell.

The building Leon pointed to was pretty impressive in size. It was color much like a lot of the other tall buildings inside of Esthar. There was a sign out front that said, "Esthar Scientific Research Academy," not that Roxas knew what any of that meant. He was busy trying not to gawk at everything he saw, hard to do when you saw weird pipe things leading to almost everywhere in the city and hovering transportation similar to the Tiny Bronco Cid worshipped.

Landing was easier than he expected. The two of them landed inside a little garden at the back part of the building, at least five feet up from the ground. It was luck that the garden was empty and they both could drop the faux easily. No guards. That was interesting. Well not like they expected to see unauthorized people this high up anyway.

"Why did they take Cloud here?" he whispered drawing Leon's attention to him.

"I haven't figured that part out yet," Leon said and frowned squatting down for a moment and taking the time to spy through the window of the building checking out the empty hallway. "But I intend to get him back."

"How? You don't even have a weapon."

"…" Leon frowned looking down at his hands intensely for a moment before he sighed. "I would…if I could get it to work."

"It?" Roxas blinked before he frowned. "You mean that power Riku unlocked for you, don't you?"

"Xehanort must have done something in the tower to make it not work."

"Wait, so you found Xehanort?"

"I did…" Leon frowned. "It didn't end well." He didn't go into explaining what happened as he went around the corner started to head inside leaving Roxas little choice but to follow him. It was still an empty hallway. Roxas felt it was safe enough to ask him about it. He wanted to know what happened. How had Xehanort escaped? Was he here on this crazy world right now?

"Why? What happened?"

"…We died," Leon said looking right at him before he peered around the corner leading to the hallway indoors.

"Wait, you what?"

Leon didn't say anything else, darting around the corner further down the hallway. Roxas followed him, the two moving silently starting to penetrate the building and therefore starting to be more cautious. Even though it was late at night, they did still see a few people moving around. Roxas would use his light during those times, though he couldn't keep it up for long grateful for no one lagging around in the hallway, especially the guards.

Many questions ran through Roxas's head. He wished he knew what had conspired between Leon, Cloud, and Xehanort. They died…no that didn't make sense. If they were dead then they wouldn't be standing here right now. Well Leon anyway…they still didn't know if Cloud was even alive still. What was this building for anyway?

Leon froze holding a hand up to signal Roxas to stop. There were voices up ahead around the next corner and from the sounds of it heading their way. Roxas tried using his light again and at the light headed feeling he quickly grabbed his head. Leon must have noticed cause in the next moment he was looking at him worriedly. But they couldn't talk, hearing the footfalls coming closer. Leon glanced behind him then quickly grabbed his hand and opened the nearby door. They didn't cut the light on, Roxas finding himself pressed against Leon in the darkness.

The footsteps paused in their general area before slowly walking away from the door. But they didn't take a chance, sitting inside and holding their breath until there was nothing but silence left behind. They waited anyway, at least about five minutes before they could breathe easily again. As Leon stayed by the door, Roxas turned around holding his hand out and making a small light. It wasn't enough to make him feel sick at least and he found himself glancing at everything in the little room. A cleaning closet by the look of the brooms, mops, and miscellaneous cleaning products Roxas knew nothing about.

He saw a couple of janitor overalls hanging on the wall and grabbed them tossing one to Leon. Before starting to put one on himself, the light continued on by hovering in front of him. Leon looked at him questioningly before Roxas looked up at him pulling the larger than he was coveralls up over his clothes.

"Disguises," he said at the funny look Leon gave him. "At least we'll be able to move around more easily, right?" Leon gave a nod starting to slip the coveralls tossed to him on.

"When did you learn how to use your light like that?"

"When we were training in the secret area," Roxas responded looking around the room again to see what else they could use. "Sora can do it too. We learned it from Zack…it took a while to get used to." Roxas found two caps hanging on the wall and grabbed one slipping it onto his head before he kneeled down starting to work on folding the bottom of the pants to at least make it look like they fit. He was glad these were short sleeved otherwise he'd just look like a kid in overalls…which he was technically. "I guess it was something Zack used a lot while he was away from the castle."

"Well it's coming in pretty useful."

"Yeah but it's exhausting. Besides, I need to safe my strength for getting Cloud out of here." He stood up again barely even coming up to Leon's chest as he grabbed the other hat and looked up at the hand holding it out to him.

"We'll need to split up," Leon said grabbing the hat before he grabbed up a broom and a dust pan. "We'll look too suspicious if we're seeing just walking down the hallway together."

"Right," Roxas responded and grabbed another broom and dust pan for himself. "How many floors does this building have anyway?"

"Twelve floors, twenty rooms on each. Each room is only accessible by key cards. The only people holding those would be the scientist walking around?"

"…Scientist? Key cards?" Well…that sounded like a bunch of nonsense to him. Is that what those guys in the white coats were called?

"Just…if you find the door, use your keyblade to unlock it," Leon said looking a little frustrated as he tried to pick his words carefully. "Don't try to enter it or else you'll set off an alarm."

"Oh ok…but how do you know about-"

"Let's go. We've wasted too much time in here." Roxas didn't even get a chance to finish talking as the door was opened and the two were forced to slip out. At the end of the hallway the footsteps had come from earlier, they split up, Roxas taking the right while Leon took the left. He honestly didn't know where he was going but he pretended he did anyway. Guards walked past him with unsuspecting that he was not who he portrayed himself to be. He made sure to use the broom though rarely used the dust pan since he couldn't figure out how to use the thing. Luckily the guards either never cared or just took it for being lazy.

There were a lot of research labs and a lot of guys in white coats walking around as well. He saw a few of them waving cards over a panel by the door and the door opening for them in return. At least he figured out what a key card was.

It was simply too hard to figure out where Cloud was being kept and he was still on the fifth floor since he couldn't figure out how to get upstairs…where were the steps at anyway? Why was Cloud brought to this place in the first place instead of in the prison with Leon?

He could probably find Cloud easily if he could use his headgear but the whole lightheadedness of using his light made that difficult. He couldn't get the visor to focus let alone look for someone missing through twelve floors and twenty rooms each. He was literally about ready to start bursting into rooms now when he happened to overhear a couple of the white coat wearers, or scientist as Leon called them, talking. At first he left it to random gossip about stuff he didn't understand but when he heard the mention of blond hair and blue eyes, his attention snapped to them.

The three were starting to walk off and he didn't even hesitate as he followed behind them, broom draped over one shoulder while he carried the dust pan in the other hand. The broom was gripped tightly as he thought about what this place could be doing to Cloud. There was too much secrecy here, too much being protected for this to be normal.

The white coats stopped, one of them producing a key card and waving it over the device by the door before the door opened allowing the three to enter. He started to move quickly, rushing to get through the door before it closed when something big intruded his vision. He stepped back quickly, looking up at the large male that was coming out of the room dressed like some of the many guards he'd seen earlier. Crap, this wasn't good.

"You there, where is your ID tag?"

"Eh…excuse me?"

"Your tag. Where is it?"

"My tag…uh…I lost it?"

"Yeah that's what the last guy said," the guard said glaring at him. He reached out grabbing Roxas's wrist tugging roughly. "You're coming with me!"

TBC….

Yay I finally finished it! Everything seemed to flow better once I started getting to work on it. X.x Now to work on the next chapter.


	68. Princely Garbs 68

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: …Why are DDR pads for PS2 so hard to find? X.x Right…that's not about the story. Lol course I'd expect Sora and Riku to be experts to that. He should go to DDR world. D: Anyways uh…let's see what happens this chapter, ne?

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Princely Garbs 68

Sora frowned glaring at Xehanort's back as he continued to be dragged along like a dog. Xehanort seemed lost. The confused look that would show up on the borrowed face continued to bother Sora. He missed Riku, he really did. So this really was tugging at him. They went to a lot of places and each time Xehanort would frown and look around before muttering under his breath with Riku's voice.

Obviously, things weren't going according to plan. It suited Sora just fine though. It gave him time to try and figure out how to get the barely visible chains off of him and how to wake Riku up from whatever trance Xehanort had put on him. He had an idea of what to do, just not how to do it. He knew Xehanort was alert and watching his every move. He had a feeling the chains played a good part in it too as he could feel it tapping into the energy of light coursing through his body. So all he could do was wait for the right opportunity.

"There's one here," Xehanort said suddenly stopping and smirking as he stared at the large city in front of them. There was a sign next to where they stood that said "Welcome to Esthar city." Esthar city…so this was the place he saw all those bright lights from. He remembered it from far away when they'd stood next to the valley filled with doors. It'd been a beautiful sight despite situation and somehow gave him hope that not everything was lost. He wondered if there were other places as well that existed like this in this world. What world was this anyway? He didn't know…he'd just taken the plunge and went through the open door following Riku's phantom.

"I can feel it," Xehanort continued on as he started walking again. "It's the only one I feel. I just need to kill it and…." He seemed oblivious to Sora being there grudgingly following behind him. Sora was forced along by the chains, swearing he could hear them rattling even though they were silent and barely even seen. But Sora followed willing, as if he'd let Riku's body disappear on him again.

There were guards heading their way holding weapons up the closer they got to them. He'd never seen these kinds of weapons before though they reminded him of Leon's gunblade without the sword attached, something that was unique within itself in their own world. Xehanort stopped walking and it didn't take long for the two of them to get surrounded. Sora frowned glancing at Xehanort noticing the smirk on his face. From the looks of things these people, whoever they were, were in danger.

"Stop right there!" The lead guard yelled out before starting to walk closer. "Display your ID tags right now!"

Xehanort didn't move and the bad feeling in the pit of Sora's stomach only got worse. As the guards got closer, holding their strangely shaped weapons up at the ready, Xehanort lifted up one finger swirling it around in front of him. Dark circles appeared beneath the forms of the guards keeping them from moving like some strange sticky substance. They stopped with little choice, startled as they stared down at their feet seeming surprised to see the darkness. Did this place not have darkness at all? It surprised Sora as well and he held out his hand to call his keyblade to him. He wasn't planning on letting Xehanort have his way and hurt innocent people.

"Sit."

"What?" Sora looked up at Xehanort but in the next moment he felt tightness around his neck. Something told him it was the untouchable collar etched into his skin doing it. Granted he couldn't see it, he knew it was there. He could feel its weight and even now the fact that it felt like it was growing smaller. He started coughing but it only made it worse.

"Fire! Fire now!"

A couple of the frightened guards pointed their weapons at Xehanort and pulled the trigger, a beam of strange green light shooting out quickly at him only to be stopped by an invisible force before it could hit Xehanort. More tried with little success though one did graze past Sora's cheek leaving a mark and making it bleed. It hurt, but not as much as the clenching of his throat.

Darkness started crawling up the guards' legs moving like a dark slime as it clung to them. Sora clutched at his throat, trying to grab hold of the invisible constraints with no success. He was barely able to look at the guards; falling to his knees as he wheezed for breath sure his face was red from the pressure.

The darkness continued climbing up the wiggling, screaming guards. They only stopped when the darkness moved into the chest penetrating into their hearts. Instantly, they stopped struggling, staring up at the sky blankly before their whole bodies became covered in darkness. Sora couldn't see any more than that though, his vision blurring as he fell forward kneeling before Xehanort choking as he scratched at his neck.

"My, that's more than I asked for," Xehanort said above him. Sora felt the pressure around his neck being lifted letting him gasp for air hungrily as he fell forward on his hands. "Bowing before your master. Good boy." Xehanort reached down petting Sora's head. He couldn't speak and was barely able to look up towards the guards with watery red eyes. They weren't there now, only heartless stood their place. They stared towards Xehanort with yellow eyes looking like a vague outline of their former selves covered in darkness. They were trained by the darkness that Xehanort fed them as they stood awaiting their orders.

"Find them," Xehanort ordered. It was the only thing he said before the heartless took off towards the city like silent phantoms. "This shouldn't take long," Xehanort said looking down at Sora. "Come." The young male felt the tug on his invisible leash and was barely able to make it to his feet before he was being pulled along unwillingly.

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"You there, where is your ID tag?"

"Hm?" Roxas frowned glancing around quickly looking for his best bet for an escape route. "Um…well…"

"If you don't have an ID tag, I'm going to have to bring you in for questioning." The guard reached out to grab his arm and Roxas was about to call out his keyblade when a hand reached out clapping itself around the guard's wrist.

"Sorry, he's with me," a voice said sounding very unfamiliar to him. The guard looked up towards the owner of the hand and the look on his face was priceless.

"V-Vice President, Kiros! Sir!" The guard seemed nervous as he moved to attention quickly to salute the male. Roxas blinked in surprise at the action and looked up towards the new person seeing a pair of smiling lips in return. The man seemed somewhat exotic with his darker skin. The way he stood showed confidence that had Roxas admiring the male even though he knew nothing about him.

The vice president wasn't the only one standing there. Roxas looked up at Leon and seemed to relax further seeing the familiar face. The guard, however, seemed to do the opposite seeing him standing there.

"You!" The guard yelled out quickly before stepping between Leon and Kiros. "Vice President, please step back! These hoodlums-"

"-Are the president's son and his friend." The smile never seemed to leave his face as he continued to stare down at Roxas, being a pretty tall guy too. And what did he just say? President's son? Not like Roxas even knew what a President was, but it sure sounded important.

"But…he can't be…he's…he isn't…he doesn't have his ID tag!"

"You may not have been around when he was but…Squall never carried around his ID tag. He had a habit of…"losing" it."

The guard stared at Leon with wild eyes before suddenly going to attention and saluting him. "Sir! I apologize for my earlier discretions, sir!" Whether the guard really believed the vice president's words or not remained unknown. If a person of power said something it, then it must be true regardless of the facts.

In the past, Leon would have grunted and glared hard enough to make the soldier wilt. Instead, he just sighed and rubbed at his temple waving his hand in a sort of "whatever, you're annoying," gesture before returning the conversation back to the reason they were here in the first place.

"Where's Cloud?" he asked and when the guard looked at him confused he elaborated further. "The blond male that was with me earlier that you guys took away. Where is he?"

"Sir!" The guard saluted him again. "I'll show you where he is, sir!" He turned heading towards the door that Roxas had been planning on going through earlier. Well at least he was on the right track. Leon followed the guard quickly and Kiros took a moment before he followed as well. He still appeared to be smiling but it wasn't a very sincere smile. In some ways it felt dangerous but somehow Roxas didn't feel threatened at all. But he had a feeling this man could fight off even the worst Heartless if he wanted to.

"This way, sir." The guard paused for a moment to wave his ID tag over the reader to open the door before he started inside again. As they walked, Roxas glanced up at Leon's back. Who knew Leon was from a different world let alone being the president's son. So…was a president the same as a king? He'd have to ask him about that later. Kiros called him Squall…so that really was his real name.

Squall the Lion…Sephiroth caused him that once during their battle. None of the others seemed to find it odd for Leon to have that title. Was it a common name for him back on Gaia?

"So you're a friend of Squall's, huh?" Kiros said slowing down to walk beside him.

"Yeah," Roxas responded slowly. "I'm Leon's…uh…Squall's friend." It'd be better off not to mention that Leon was more or less his subordinate back on Gaia. Heck, it'd be a good idea not to even mention that he was a prince.

Roxas smiled up at the male. The man had nice features and could easily be called handsomely gorgeous. He walked with a sort of elegant, graceful gait. His brown eyes shined with intelligence and wisdom even though Roxas couldn't figure out his age at all. He wondered what Leon's father looked like and snorted thinking about an older, disgruntled Leon.

"Something wrong?" Kiros asked, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.

"No, just…thinking about what the president must look like."

"Oh…he's a spitting image of Squall. You wouldn't be able to tell the two apart." Kiros looked like he was smirking when Leon grunted at the words. "So, Squall-"

"Leon," Radiant Garden's commander said. "My name is Leon now."

"Leon," Kiros amended though he didn't seem fazed by it. "Where have you been all these years?"

"I was on a planet named Gaia," Leon said then frowned. "But for some reason I woke up here on Terra with Cloud." He explained it to them both then of what conspired with Xehanort and how when he woke up he was on Terra. He even mentioned the fact that Cloud wouldn't wake up. Throughout the whole discussion, Kiros frowned. He seemed especially not to like the part of Leon giving his Lifestream to Cloud.

"I thought you were dead," Roxas said before frowning. The way you both looked was just…scary."

"Someone must have pushed us both through that door then. I thought maybe Xehanort had done it but I doubt he would have wanted us to live."

"It could have been that Yuffie girl," Roxas said thinking about how she'd pushed him in. "She asked me to do something but I'm not really sure what it was. Something about protecting them…or saving them. I guess maybe she was talking about you guys maybe?" But that wouldn't have made sense otherwise she would have made Roxas push them through the door. Who did she want him to save then? Riku maybe?

"Yuffie…" Leon's facial expression barely softened. So he knew who this Yuffie person was then. When he had another chance, he'd have to ask Leon about her. Maybe he could single out a clue as to why she'd work with Xehanort of all people? She didn't seem like a bad person, but Roxas still couldn't bring himself to trust her one hundred percent.

"Vice President, sir." The guard stopped by door in the long hallway filled with nothing but doors. Most of the entrances had name plates by them with actual words on them, some names, others specific living creatures. This one, however, was still unlabeled. "The subject has been contained inside here," the guard said looking at them all. "We're still testing to see if he's one of them."

"One of them?" Leon said voice filling with anger, apparently not liking that Cloud was being treated as an object. "What do you mean by one of them?"

"Let's just go inside and see if it's him first," Roxas said quickly pushing Leon towards the automated door to go inside. Kiros was right behind them though when Roxas looked back he thought he saw concern in his eyes.

TBC…

Yeah took me a min to update x.x But I did do it. D: Yay. :confetti: Hope you enjoyed it!


	69. Princely Garbs 69

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: I updated. D: The world is going to end! Eventually. :P

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Princely Garbs 69

When Leon walked through the door and saw the glass box surrounding his lover like he was a wild animal, rage flowed through his body. He felt his body moving before his thought had even fully processed what had happened, his instincts kicking in to want to protect the one dearest to him.

"Leon!" Despite Roxas's surprised outburst, he still rushed forward pressing his hands against the glass, slamming a fist against it. Cloud lay unresponsive to the loud banging though the doctors inside looked plenty scared and for good reason too.

"Why is he in there?!" Leon cried out angrily turning and glaring heated at the guard who shrank away at the look. Even Roxas looked startled but Leon couldn't calm himself down. No, there was no way he could stay calm in this kind of situation.

"I…b-because he might be one of Them…sir!" The guard seemed to quiver in his boots even though he shakily saluted Leon. Interesting how this same man who had no problems with arresting him earlier was not shaking with fear before him. Not when Cloud was like this in front of him being experimented on like he was some foreign creature.

"Them?" He must have had an insane look on his face because the guard quickly ducked his head and continued to stammer.

"Sir…Them…T-They are the Ancients."

"Ancients…" Leon frowned at that turning around and staring into the glass, his hands clenched at his sides. That word brought back many memories or a little boy he'd met when he was younger. He remembered playing with the young boy out near the mountains near Esthar. It was the only place the two of them could meet since the boy refused to leave the mountains for some reason.

He'd told his father about his friend, the only person he'd considered a friend at the time. The boy didn't know he was a president's son so he didn't try to befriend to get close to his father's money. He became his friend because he was lonely. So he took his father to meet the boy. The reaction hadn't been what he'd expected and in the end his father ordered the boy moved far away from the city.

The only explanation he gave to Leon was that, "he was an Ancient," and that he was doing this to protect the city. It was that reason that Leon grew to hate his father for stealing away his only friend. It was that reason that he'd run away from home only to end up in another world. But as strange as it was, he'd never even learned what an Ancient was.

"What is an Ancient?" Roxas asked looking over at them.

Leon frowned and looked up at Kiros waiting for an explanation. He deserved one at this point, especially with Kiros trying to steal his boyfriend away from him.

"The Ancients," Kiros started walking over to stand beside Leon and look in at Cloud on the table, "are like gods in our world."

"Like gods?" Roxas asked confused. Of course he'd be confused. They didn't have anything like that on Gaia, at least not any that they would know of. Leon looked up staring through the glass at the doctors resuming their work of poking and prodding at Cloud's still body.

Kiros continued on beside him. "Think of it as…a person with unlimited power that's extremely hard to kill." The doctor's started checking over Cloud's body. While one seemed to be taking blood samples, another was opening Cloud's closed eyes checking for responses while a third checked his pulse.

There were about six doctors in all, two of them working on the computers. All of them were busy fawning over Cloud like he was some kind of freak. It was only frustrating Leon more.

"Ancients are what keep the balance in our world. Without them, the Lifestream and even the planet itself would die. Terra would cease existing."

"That sounds serious."

"It is. If the Lifestream dies, everyone dies." Kiros moved walking till he stood beside Leon. "If Cloud really is one of the Ancients, then he is the last of them."

Leon looked over when the older male spoke those last words, frowning. "If you think I'll let you keep him in captivity because he's the last one, then you're wrong. I don't care if you're my father's second or not, I won't let that happen."

"Squall-"

"The name's Leon, not Squall," Leon corrected him looking away in a disregarding manner.

"Leon," Kiros fixed before he continued talking. "Ancients are able to produce the Lifestream from their bodies and filter it out into the world for us to live on. The Lifestream in Cloud has yet to be dispersed onto the world. If Cloud really is one of the Ancients then that's not a normal. If the Lifestream keeps building up inside of him without being released, it's likely he will die."

Leon looked up at those words, his eyes wide.

"We need to find out the reason why it's doing that and-"

"Sir! Please respond, sir!" Leon and the others turned looking at the guard who was fumbling with the communicator at his belt hoop before lifting it up to yell into it.

"What is it!"

"Sir! There's uh…w-we have a situation down here!"

"Then spit it out, soldier!"

"We're being attacked! There are…these things everywhere!" Leon frowned and looked back at Cloud worried he was in danger. He wanted to scoop him up and get him out of here quickly. But to where? They didn't even know how to get back to Gaia and Kingdom Hearts. They couldn't get back to what he considered his home now. And that only frustrated him more.

"What things?" The guard said frowning into the communicator.

"They look like walking shadows! Oh god it's getting closer…."

"Where are you?" the guard said reaching to grab his laser like gun from his side.

"Just outside the laboratory! They're heading for the-" The voice cut short but they heard nothing else to indicate what caused it.

"Soldier? Soldier, respond!" Nothing. Leon frowned looking at Roxas who nodded in return. They both knew what was going on. The heartless were here on Esthar. Whether that meant that Xehanort was close or not was another matter altogether. Leon didn't recall ever seeing heartless on Terra but…well he had been away for a long time. Not to mention that Xehanort had been tampering with their world for a while now.

"Sir!" The guard called out suddenly as he saluted. "Please stay inside! I will proceed to-"

"No," Leon said stepping forward suddenly. "You need to stay here and protect the vice president." He started for the door.

"Wait!" Kiros said following after him. "You can't just-"

"Alert the guards to get the president to safety. Get him to the most well lit location you can find. I'm going to go take care of this."

"Sir!"

"Leon!" Leon paused hearing Kiros but he started to move again, till Roxas blocked his way anyway.

"You need to stay here," Roxas said looking up at him not the least bit intimidated by the height different. "I'll go take care of the heartless. I'm the only one with a weapon right now."

"You're a prince."

"And you're the son of a president. I may not know what that is but I know it's up there with being a prince."

Leon frowned at him. "I'm a soldier and your protector."

"And I'm your prince who's ordering you to stay." Roxas frowned. "Right now you need to stay and protect Cloud. If he wakes up he needs to know that someone is here that he knows." When Leon said nothing to respond to that, Roxas reached up grabbing Leon's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze before pushing him back towards the glass encasement.

"Keep them safe," Roxas said more as a request than a command before he turned running off. Leon rushed to the door quickly to stop him but by the time he got there the other was gone.

He placed his fingers to his forehead with a sigh before turning and going back inside. His prince was stubborn, just like Sora was. It was made obvious just how related the two twins were. Was their father like this too before the incident?

"Leon, what was he talking about?" Kiros asked. "What are heartless?" Leon didn't say anything walking past him to the door leading to the glass booth. It didn't open at his approach like the other doors meaning it was locked, probably from the inside. He looked up at the doctors inside and gave them his patent glare said to throw fear into even his enemies.

"Unlock the door," Leon commanded. The doctors inside looked unsurely at him.

"Leon…" Kiros started sounding closer to him but he ignored it.

"Unlock. The door. Now!" He banged his fist against the door at the last word making the glass tremble under his fist. The doctors jumped but didn't move other than to look at Kiros for permission. So they felt like they were protected by the glass walls did they?

Leon sighed and forced himself to calm down, feeling Kiros coming to stand behind him and rest a hand on his shoulder. Finally he looked inside again at the doctors. This was important. If he didn't get them out of here…get Cloud out of here.

"…A glass box isn't going to protect you against what's out there," Leon said staring each doctor in the face. "The creatures we're up against are silent yet deadly. They can come from anywhere darkness permits because they are creatures of darkness. They crave the light…light that living beings have inside of them." They glanced around at each other apparently starting to get nervous by the way they were fidgeting.

"They will come after all of you. And they will try to take your hearts. But in the end they will only end up filling your heart with darkness until you become one of them." He pressed both his hands against the glass door, resting his forehead against it and staring towards Cloud longingly, wishing he would just wake up. "Unlock the door."

"…Unlock it," Kiros said giving a sigh. "If it is dangerous here then we need to get away as well. We'll go to where the president is."

One of the doctors turned to the computer typing on the keyboard quickly before the door opened. Leon rushed in heading straight for Cloud. The doctors scrambled away quickly staring at him like he was a mad man. He didn't care, stopping beside Cloud and yanking away all the wires and testing instruments before picking up the prone figure carefully in both arms and leaving the glass room.

Kiros was watching them both with caution and with concern. Leon wasn't sure why or for what reason. When Leon stopped in front of Kiros, the other looked at the guard and nodded before looking at Leon again.

"We're going to where your father is," Kiros said ignoring the frown on Leon's face. "It will be the safest place to go and is the most will let area in the city." Leon nodded though he wasn't looking forward to seeing his dad. In his opinion…his dad wasn't the brightest screw in the box…whatever that meant.

Cloud felt light in his arms. He wished he knew a way to wake him but he was happy to at least see Cloud was alive and not how he had been laying on the floor in the tower of darkness. At least this way he had hope that Cloud was getting better.

As the guard headed out the door, the group of doctors along with Kiros and Leon followed out after him. He tried as he walked to see if he could call out his flames…but it still did nothing for him. He wondered now if it had anything to do with the Lifestream being clogged inside of Cloud. Was Cloud really in danger? He needed to know…he needed to know and he needed to find a cure for it. Because he was going to be able to live without Cloud, he knew that much for certain.

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Auron sat up quickly and looked around feeling completely disoriented. He expected to see himself surrounded by nothing but darkness but instead…everything was clear. The courtyard looked almost normal except for the broken parts of stones here and there. When he looked down at his own body he didn't find any injuries, just black smoke rising out of him and slowly evaporating as it went into the air. It wasn't something he saw normally so it did intrigue him.

"Auron, you're ok!" He heard the voice and looked up finding Kairi looking down at him and smiling with a very relieved look on her face. It was a sight for sore eyes for sure. He'd never seen something so calming since having to face off against the giant heartless…who was nowhere in sight.

"…Where…."

"It's gone," Kairi said drawing his attention to here again. She held out her hand and he looked down seeing the small charm she'd given him sitting in her palm. It looked smoldered though there seemed to still be a shine to it. "When I came back after helping the others, you were gone. The only thing left was that giant heartless." Auron reached up picking up the small charm and staring at it. It'd really been through a rough time.

"I thought I was too late," Kairi said kneeling down beside him. "But then I saw something glowing inside of it. So I took a chance and pointed my keyblade at it and…the light inside just seemed to grow." She spread her hands apart from each other to emphasize. "It grew so big that the heartless just seemed to melt apart. Then I saw the three of you floating down to the ground covered in the light."

"The three of us?" Kairi pointed and Auron followed her finger with his one eye. He saw Zell and Seifer lying nearby holding each other's hands though they still seemed out of it. He was glad to see they were safe.

"Then the charm fell down as well and…I thought I heard a voice." Auron looked up at her again and frowned at the confused look on her face.

"Who's voice?"

Kairi shook her head. "I don't know but…it was a female. Her voice sounded really young like a child's. The only words she said were 'well done,' and then it stopped." She laughed slightly. "Maybe I'm just hearing things because I'm tired."

"Or maybe she was some goddess of light or something."

"That'd be nice to believe," she said smiling kindly before she stood up and held her hand out to him. "Come on. Let's go wake these two knuckleheads up and get back to the others." Auron nodded his head and reached up grabbing her hand and being pulled to his feet. He wasn't really expecting her to be this strong but she wasn't a pushover. Her father would be proud. The two of them headed over to Zell and Seifer to wake them and start on figuring out what to do next.

TBC…

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Good enough. -_- I'm stupid. XD And sleep deprived but we'll worry about that later, ne?


	70. Princely Garbs 70

Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, Tidus/Seifer more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's comment: It's been a while but here's an update. :D

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Princely Garbs 70

He kept hearing a voice calling his name, trying to drag him from the deep sleep he was enjoying. He hadn't slept this good in years. It was like his body stayed wrapped up in a warm blanket that didn't want to let him go. Why would he want to leave it anyway?

The voice kept being a persistent buzz in his ear before he had no choice but to open his eyes. He couldn't see anything, nothing but the darkness that surrounded him and he frowned. Since when did darkness feel warm like this? The voice called out his name again and he finally looked into the void before him seeing the shape of a woman taking form in front of him.

Her hair draped around her like dark silk. It looked soft though he couldn't move his arms to touch it. That was strange. She walked towards him, her hips moving gracefully in a way he didn't think was possible. Just as her hair was dark as night, her eyes were darker still. They seemed to hold so much inside them, seemed to suck in knowledge of the things they'd seen.

When she stopped in front of him, he didn't feel any kind of nervousness. In fact, he felt nothing but relief and security in her presence. When she reached out and touched his head, he felt whatever constraints were holding him back fall away like brittle rocks. They crumbled around him making him stumble to his knees in front of her.

"Riku," she said again looking down at him drawing his attention up to her.

"Who…are you?"

She smiled again at him before she actually laughed and kneeled down in front of him. And wow was she pretty well endowed. "My name's Tifa," she said smiling at him kindly. "I am the embodiment of darkness itself."

"You're…darkness?"

"It's complicated," she said shrugging her shoulders. "I was freed from Xehanort's entrapment. So now I am here to save you as well."

"Save me?" He frowned and looked around. "Where am I anyway?"

"Deep in your heart," she said and reached out touching his chest. "Your soul's been trapped inside the darkness in your heart by Xehanort. He uses your body to control both the light and the darkness and is trying to enslave all worlds with the power of darkness."

"That…doesn't really sound like a good thing."

"Of course it doesn't," she said standing up and frowning at him. "That's a bad thing. A really bad thing. And this is coming from me."

"…The girl with the big boobs? OW!"

"Focus, and get your head out of the gutter," she said frowning at him after she'd hit him on the head. "Or should I tell Sora where your mind is."

"Sora…is he ok?" He was serious now as he stood up staring at her. He felt like he hadn't seen Sora in a long time. He was worried about the other.

"He's fine…for now anyway." She sighed looking off into the darkness as if she were looking at something. "Xehanort's using you to hold him captive. He's using Sora to unlock the doors of all the worlds so that he can plunge them all into darkness." Her expression didn't show that she was too worried about it. It was something Riku caught on to as he frowned staring at her.

"You don't sound too worried about that happening. Is there a plan in the works?"

"You're pretty bright for a kid," Tifa said smirking at him ignoring how he rolled his eyes at the comment. "Yes, we do have a plan. Namine should be getting it started right now."

"…Namine?"

"She's the embodiment of light." She threw her hand at the air dismissively. "It's complicated."

"What isn't?" Riku rubbed at his head getting frustrated with all these new things he was learning at one time. Couldn't they go easy on him? He just woke up. "So if you can control the darkness can't you just force Xehanort out of me?"

"I could…but he'd just jump to another body. He's easily able to jump from one body to the next as long as it's been touched by the darkness."

"So we'll just end up running around in circles again unless we find a way to keep him from hopping into anyone else."

"That is how it is." She stretched before she smiled down at him. "Now be good while I'm gone. I have other things I need to set up." Tifa frowned. "Being tricked then locked up like somebody's toy has really pissed me off."

"Good. I can agree on that," Riku said frowning and staring up at her. "When does the plan take place?"

"Soon," she said turning away from him and looking over her shoulder at him. "You'll know when you see the signal. Then after that, it's up to you."

"Alright then," Riku said before he flopped down on the ground crossing his legs. "Then I guess I'll sit by and wait for the right time."

"You know it." She grinned at him before she started walking off into the darkness, waving a hand over her head. "Ciao."

"Yeah, see ya." Riku was left alone again as she walked away. He looked down at his hand frowning. He knew he could probably push Xehanort out of him. But like Tifa had said, it'd only keep the cycle going and let Xehanort continue on with his plans. He needed to stop that from happening. But the only way to do that was to wait and rely on the others.

He smiled slightly. The thought of seeing Sora again did make him happy. He was sure the other was probably worrying sick about him right now. He'd just have to make it up to him once he saw him again. Hopefully, that would be soon.

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Roxas panted as he took down heartless after heartless. It seemed endless, the heartless climbing down the shadows of the darkened hallway set on destroying the one holding the keyblade. He couldn't hold out much longer like this. He only needed to know that the others were safe before he made his own escape. He could only assume that Xehanort was nearby from the amount of the shadowed figures he was seeing.

Further down the hallway he thought he caught a glimpse of said man in the body of Riku before more darkness seemed to block the way heading towards him.

"_Go."_

A voice spoke to him from beside him though it sounded like it was in his head. When he looked he saw a girl's silhouette standing beside him. In all sense of the word, she seemed like a ghost to him. He could see through her yet he could clearly see her face. She reminded him of what he'd seen his father and King Ansem look like back in their world. She looked worried though, her mouth opening as she said the words clearly again.

"_Go. Roxas!"_

He didn't hesitate this time, turning and running away. His shoes grew the roller blades beneath them as he took off zooming down the hallway chased by the darkness. The girl seemed to float before him and pointed to a hallway. Roxas nodded following her. He didn't feel panicked at all and felt like he trusted her. He wanted to talk to her, to ask who she was and how she knew his name. He felt like he'd known her all his life even though he'd never met her before.

A secret path led them outside of the research laboratory. They didn't stop though going through the wooded areas surrounding the building leading them further into where the city was. They broke free of the trees onto pavement he didn't know existed. The road was smooth beneath his wheels and he glanced back behind him towards the trees seeing the wraiths at the tree line but not going beyond it. The streets where covered in lights from the tall poles hovering over them.

Roxas felt a sigh of relief escape from him before he looked over at the girl who was still looking forward leading him. It looked like they had a bit before going into the city, the road apparently quieter at night than during the day. He needed to ask her some things before they got closer to the city and to the inhabitants that would probably demand to see his identification that he didn't have. But she beat him to the punch as she looked over at him.

"_Roxas, we need to find Cloud and get him away from here as soon as possible."_ Roxas frowned hearing the voice speaking to him and mentally returned his thoughts to it.

"_How do you know who I am? How do you know Cloud? Who are you?"_

"_It's…complicated," _the voice said back, the girl frowning in frustration. _"But my name is Namine. Just believe me when I say we need to move quickly. If we don't then Xehanort might find Cloud before us and if he does, it's over."_

"_What would he want with Cloud?" _Roxas frowned. This world was confusing. He knew that Leon was an important person here, and from the sounds of it so was Cloud. But he didn't really understand why Cloud was important. Was he some kind of secret prince they didn't know about? He really doubted it.

"_If Cloud is killed here, this world will die and the doors that Xehanort wants to open will only need the keyblade to open them. They won't be protected by the powers of the Lifestream anymore."_

Lifestream…yeah he thought he remembered hearing those words before. So killing Cloud must have meant that Cloud could control the Lifestream. He was a person that stood in the way of what Xehanort's goal was, to bring darkness to all worlds.

"_But there is one door that isn't bothered by the Lifestream. If we can open that door and hide Cloud inside we may be able to draw Xehanort inside as well."_ He didn't know what was so special about this one particular door, but he was willing to try it if it meant destroying Xehanort once and for all.

"So…how do we find Cloud?" Roxas asked out loud.

"_In the place where the light shines the brightest."_

"The brightest place in the city huh?" Roxas looked up staring at the tall tower at the center of the city. It glowed almost like a beacon. It was probably the best and the worst place to go. "Looks like a good place to start though." The wings on his shoes spread as he leaned forward moving faster, the rockets on the back of his shoes shooting him off at full speed. He didn't hesitate to think up the wings waiting for them to appear behind his back before he used them to guide him towards the towers upper levels. Namine stayed there like a guiding angel the whole time.

He was glad to see people in the city below being shuffled along to head outside the city in what looked like an evacuation. They didn't need any casualties if they could avoid it. He already suspected that the heartless he fought earlier had been some of the soldiers from around the research laboratory. But at that state, there wasn't anything he could do to save them.

When he found himself hovering over the top of the building he was glad to see Leon there still holding Cloud cradled in his arms. Kiros was beside him as well as another man that Roxas found himself staring at. He looked familiar…. Equipping his eyes reader the information loaded up showing that this was the President of Esthar City. That was easy to tell just from how many people were standing in a circle around him protectively. It said his name was Laguna Loire and that he had a son by the name of Squall Leonhart.

Putting two and two together, minus how Leon seemed to be avoiding the older man's words, it made sense. So this was Leon's father.

Lowering himself down on the rooftop, he held his hands up quickly to show he wasn't a threat when several guns were pointed his way.

"Lower your weapons," Kiros said moving forward to greet him. The guns were lowered though the guards continued to stare at him with stiff shoulders. They'd attack in a heartbeat if he did anything to hurt their leader.

"I won't ask how you were able to do that," Kiros said watching the wings disappear in wonder. "But I am really grateful to your help."

"No need," Roxas said blushing from the attention. "How are things going here?"

"Clear," Leon said coming over to join them. "None of the heartless showed up yet." He glanced back towards his father who was watching them with amusement not looking the least bit worried about the whole situation. Something about him just didn't seem leader like. Maybe it was how he was dressed? "We need to find our next plan of action." He looked tired, course Roxas wasn't surprised by that considering the whole coming back from the dead thing.

"We have the means to travel," Laguna said pointing towards the Ragnarok sitting behind them. "So if we need to go any special places, just let me know." His smile was kind as were his eyes. He didn't seem like such a bad guy. So why did Leon frown so much when they mentioned him? "And by the way, the name's Laguna."

"Roxas," the Kingdom Hearts prince said giving a slight bow of his head. "I'll let you know if there's anything I need help with."

"_We need to get Cloud to the doors. We need to isolate Xehanort so that we can trap him and finish him for good."_

Roxas hesitated before he looked at Laguna again. "Actually…we might need to borrow your uh…thing-"

"Ragnarok."

"Right…that." He looked over at Leon seeing how the other was watching him frowning slightly. "Leon, Xehanort is after Cloud. It's…It's hard to explain," he said seeing the look of confusion coming across Leon's face. "But we need to get Cloud to a safe place, some place where Xehanort won't be able to do anything to him."

"I don't think that kind of place exist in this world." But Leon looked intrigued as he stared at the young prince. If it had anything to do with protecting Cloud, he'd do it.

"Not in this world exactly, but it does exist," Roxas said frowning then glancing at Namine who gave a reassuring nod of her head. "I can take us there."

"…I trust you," Leon said nodding his head. Laguna was staring at Leon like he'd grown another head but Kiros just rested his hand on top of Laguna's head ruffling the hair around to mess it up. It made Laguna pout, who just tried to brush it back in place but he had a soft smile on his face as he stared at the back of the man whom he must have called his son.

Roxas smiled honestly hoping to get this over with soon so he could be reunited with his own dad.

"Well then let's get aboard, everyone!" Laguna yelled out throwing an arm around Roxas's shoulder. Leon looked like he wanted to smack his own forehead but he just rolled his eyes and turned getting on the ship. Roxas blinked then followed everyone boarding into a thing he'd never been inside of before. If this thing started flying he swore he was going to brag the hell out of it to Cid.

TBC….

I'll admit I missed writing about Riku. XD


End file.
